Street Food: Banh Mi
Location: Nguyen Huong, 320 Spadina Ave, Toronto, ON
Price: $1.50 CDN
Review: I was orginally going to start my street posts from the Taste of the Danforth, but the large unmoving crowd, swarming like locusts over grilled meats, made me ride the rocket and head over to chinatown to take a look at the Chinatown Festival. My first stop was to Nguyen Huong to pick up a spicy banh mi. Long gone are the days of the $1 banh mi in Toronto.
The average price now is $1.50-2.00. After my quick and efficient purchase, I secured a spot to the side of the street between the coconut cutting maniacs with large machetes. At first bite, the banh mi lacked heat from the non-existent thai bird chilies. I opened up the little guy to search for them with no luck. The red and white paper wrapper, stating "HOT" was almost taunting me, saying "silly fool!" My second bite, came half wedged into a "twig" of some sort. On closer inspection, the coriander culprit was much more stem than leaf. The usual pate, mayo, and loaf were all in order. Pickled daikon and carrots were not crisp and fresh as they should have been. The bun was textbook: light, crisp and airy. Next time, I will venture north along spadina for a better banh mi.
Rating:
2/5
banh mi, sub, sandwich, food, street food, streetfood, hoagie, grinder, vietnamese, poboy,
2 comments:
I saw your link on Chowhounds. You really have to eat more! (or write more, more likely.) I went to the Chinatown festival too. You should have gotten the meat on a stick. They were done on these open bbqs, with cumin and some sort of chili powder. The lineups were really long for the stall, and that's always a good sign.
Hi SFG, After reading your review of the banh mi, I'm led to believe that you based your review solely on the chiles and coriander content (and limp veggies). Did you know that thai bird chiles are not supposed to be in banh mi? It's actually supposed to be scotch bonnet/habanero, I believe. Anyway, my experience there has been quite positive: spicy, crisp and tasty. Maybe you should give them one more try!
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