I've had too many banh mi sandwiches served on bread that favors a hot dog bun. So I was excited to learn about this truck focusing largely on banh mi as its featured staple. As with many Vietnamese dishes, the experience is best when it capitalizes on simple (but wonderful) juxtapositions (eg, warm, tender meat against crunchy, chilled pickled veggies; the smooth spread of mayo against dense bread with a crisp outer crust). I realize this is a gluten-free truck, and I think it's great that options for the GF-set are expanding; but sadly, I felt the bread didn't do these sandwiches justice. It's soft, oddly damp-like, and a little sweet... it stuck to the paper it came wrapped in. It disappointed. The sandwich was moderately filled. I opted for lemongrass beef, which had excellent flavor and paired well with both the bite of jalapeno and the cooling cucumbers. Priced at $8.50, it's on par with Bida Manda's Laotian baguette (but as it doesn't come with table service or ambiance, undeniably it's a steep price to pay in a side-by-side comparison). It feels especially expensive when I know I can get delicious versions at my fave Greensboro banh mi spot for half the price. So while I'm lukewarm about the banh mi, I will definitely return to try some of the other "fixin's" on offer, using the rice or noodle bowl option, instead of the sandwich. read more

Bang Bang Banh Mi - Lemongrass Beef - Food Trucks Near Me - Durham, North Carolina

Since moving back to NC from the Bay Area, one of the foods I've missed the most is banh mi. I was over the moon when I learned there would be a food truck dedicated to banh mi in Durham. I stalked you on Twitter and Facebook. However, I could never get the stars to align for an opportunity to come out to meet your food truck. Then one afternoon it finally happened. I ordered the braised pork belly banh mi and an iced Vietnamese coffee but it only came hot. No worries. It was still winter after all. I couldn't wait to bite into the banh mi, imagining the sweet braised pork belly and the crunch of the pickled daikon, carrots and cucumbers, the tangy mayo blending with the pate, the freshness of cilantro and the kick in the mouth from the jalapenos. Above all, I couldn't wait to bite into that crispy baguette. While the filling was tasty, the bread wasn't quite right. I love that it's gluten free, but there's just something about the baguette that delivers the true experience of a banh mi. I'll have to try your other dishes the next time and the bubble tea. Keep on truckin' Bang Bang because there's definitely a place for you in this foodie town. read more

Bang Bang Banh Mi - a sign for gluten free vietnamese food - Food Trucks Near Me - Durham, North Carolina

I've said it before and i'll say it again, if it's Vietnamese everything in me wants to love it....but tragically, my heart is often broken. Now I do not wish be too critical or whiny here, but here's the deal. I love the V sandwich (minus the mayo and pate). It makes me smile and want to clap like a little kid. Finding the V sandwich is like playing were's waldo sometimes....it's there you just have to hunt for it. So while at the farmer's market, when i saw the Bang Bang BANH MI!!!!! truck I made a b-line for it, despite the fact that it was only 845 in the morning. (it's NEVER to early to get your V on. REMEMBER THAT.) My first red flag should have been the 'Gluten free!' sign. I don't mind gluten free stuff, it's just some things.....they're just better with gluten. A Banh Mi is one. The bread was warm and soft and was sorely missing that typical crunchy exterior and soft inside. Aside from that it tasted gluten-less........kind of lacking in flavor, with a distinct soft yet scratchy consistency. Maybe you know what i mean, maybe you don't, but i can't really get the description any better than that. My second red flag should have been the price point. For a point of reference, I have never paid over $4.00 for a Banh Mi, and i've had that sandwich in charlotte, raleigh, nashville, and some place in virginia and it was NEVER over $4.00, at bang bang there is a step $9.00 charge for a sandwich.....for a moment there i wondered if i was inside a theme park or at the movie concession stand due to the jacked up price. Now in their defense 1. the bun was gluten free, which anytime you see gluten free you can just translate that as "we're about to stick it to you buddy!' and 2. they don't skimp on meat. Although they are generous with their meat I didn't really feel it justified the price tag. Overall I was sadly heart broken.........the sandwich was just, ok. The meat was good, but than some places but not nearly as good as my favorite places in charlotte and raleigh, the bread was lack luster and the price was way to high, and the service, while not mean, there was no effort made to be welcoming. What's your order? here's your food. the end. Although I wouldn't hunt them down again for a sandwich, if they were in the area and i needed food, i'd probably go check them out to see how their Vermicilli is.....now that is a dish worth $9.00, so i'd like to see how they do on that. But for now I'm going to have to assign bang bang the ambiguous 3 star of mediocrity. And hope for a better score in the future........until then..... I LOVE YOU V!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (please forgive my sad review!) read more

Bang Bang Banh Mi - a sandwich with meat and vegetables - Food Trucks Near Me - Durham, North Carolina

I stopped by the BBBM food truck because they were conveniently parked outside of my work and I like Vietnamese food. I ordered the Garlic Beef Bahn Mi sandwich. Wasn't too crazy about it. Was ok, but the sit down Viet restos I have been to had better. Didn't seem to have a whole lot of meat on it and what they did have wasn't very flavorful or spicy like it indicated on their menu. Everything did taste fresh at least. They had a pretty big crowd since they were at an office park. It took quite a while to get through line, order and have my sandwich come out. They seemed a bit disorganized and were sending out orders out of turn and forgetting some all together. Not sure if I will visit again. Wasn't too impressed with first visit. read more

i had my reservations... gluten free bread for a vietnamese-esque sandwich?? all vietnamese people know the single most important ingredient to a vietnamese sandwich is the BAGUETTE! well, i was pleasantly surprised. I got the caramel braised pork banh mi. The meat was definitely soft, tender, and delicious. Thankfully it was very saucy to compensate for a predictably dry gluten free bread. Luckily, together it turned out to be a good balance. Not sure what type of pate they use, but i found it to be a bit grainy and not as flavorful as the pate i'm used to in traditional vietnamese sandwiches. Lastly, i've perused the pictures of the other sandwiches they have on their facebook page and twitter. They display an abundance of pickled carrots and veggies, but i thought my sandwich could have used a lot more. Especially with the heaviness of the pork, it could have definitely used more refreshing pickled and crunchy texture. So it may sound like my review is pretty critical, but i'm vietnamese and i'm from CA, but truly I was very pleasantly surprised with this sandwich. The meat was definitely the highlight of this sandwich. I definitely be back to have a different sandwich. Overall, a solid 3.5 stars. I have a feeling my next visit will push me to 4 stars easily. read more

First off, kudos to y'all for bringing more banh mi to the Triangle. I love the idea and totally endorse it. Also, +1 for awesome customer service, which saved this from being a one star review. With that said, there are a few issues here worth mentioning. I recognize that gluten free often means pricy. Food trucks, at least in DRM, also have a certain cost factor associated with them that you won't find at a sandwich shop or bodega. Since there aren't a whole lot of veggie banh mi options around here, I can even stomach a brick and mortar place charging $9.50 for an enormous, delicious sandwich that would be $3.50 elsewhere. What rubs me the wrong way, however, is a small sandwich like this with a big ol' price tag. Couple the sandwich size with the lack of flavor, spongey bread, and strange consistency and we've got a major problem. After eating half of my sandwich, I had a way larger, tastier second dinner for a comparable price up the road. Hoping this was an off night and wishing you much success. read more

I was excited when I saw a Vietnamese food truck at Fortnight Brewery. Unfortunately this was like someone had looked at a picture of Vietnamese food once on the internet and decided to try to replicate it. I had ordered what was supposed to be a bun dish and my mother ordered a rice dish. I knew better than to order a gluten-free banh mi. The noodles in my bun dish were mushy and the tofu, while crisped well, had an uninspiring sweet chili sauce drenched on it. My mother's fried chicken was a better choice but still quite bland compared to what I'm used to with Vietnamese dishes. Overall a disappointing experience. I think this type of truck has a lot of potential in this area but they also have to compete with all of the authentic Vietnamese places on Capital Blvd and the supremely tastier Taste in Morrisville. Adding insult to injury the prices at the truck were more expensive than what you would pay at any of these sit-down restaurants, particularly the sandwiches. When it's all said and done I seriously doubt I'll be giving this place a second try. read more

After reading reviews about the baguette, I decided on the chili garlic beef rice bowl. Now THAT is the way to go! The beef was delicious! The spices were flavorful. The carrot/cilantro mix with vinaigrette on the side had great crunch and great flavor! There is a HUGE pile of rice! I also tried the Sweet Potato Fritters. Yum yum for my tum tum! Get the rice bowl! You will be thankful you did! read more

So I read the reviews and the common theme is that the bread isn't the greatest. However, if you're not Celiac (like me) or someone who has to eat gluten free all of the time, I can understand how you might think that. It's gluten free bread, it's going to taste different than normal bread. Don't expect the same taste and texture. That being said I thought it was awesome. I got the lemongrass chicken banh mi and sweet potato fritters. The meat/veggies on the banh mi were delicious and cooked perfectly. The sweet potato fritters are a must try!! Omg I wish I could have some right now as I type. Mostly, I'm just super appreciative that someone finally made a 100% gluten free truck! It's usually pretty difficult to find food at the rodeos but now I'm all set! Thanks! read more

I have been trying to catch up with BBBM for quite some time. Last week they were at South Durham Farmer's Market, Wednesday afternoon. Just down the street. I frequent a world class BM place in DC ( ok, Falls Church). I am spoiled. I knew BBBM was gluten free. I didn't know how bad gluten free could be. The pork and filling wasn't terrible, but the bread was. I should have gotten the noodles. The food would be fine if it wasn't represented as BM. It isn't. It is too expensive for a soggy "Asian" sub. BM is fresh with a crispy baguette. This is a soggy samich. Sorry. They really should offer a traditional baguette, pickled veg, etc. That would be worth the chase. read more

I don't eat gluten-free, but I enjoyed the sandwich I had from this truck, and I especially loved the sweet potato fritters. I ordered the garlic chili beef banh mi, and it was tasty and filling. The bread was definitely weird, but it didn't bother me. I had to pick some of the jalapeños out of the sandwich though - too hot. The sweet potato fritters were huge and made a lasting impression on my taste buds. Give this truck a try! read more

I'll be honest I'm adding a star just for being one of the few food trucks with GF options at the Raleigh food truck rodeo. Not only an option but their entire offering today was GF. I do agree with other reviewers in that I have had better banh mi at sit down Vietnamese places, but I've also had much much worse. For a fast food offering off a food truck the food was pretty good and wasn't much of a wait. This banh mi was Americanized a little and I think that may be adding to other reviewers discontent. read more

Tried them at the last Truck Rodeo in Durham for CY14. Oh, how I wish I can take that back and try something from almost anyone else that was there. A nice Crepe would of been a much safer choice. A warm Banh Mi sounded so good on a nice windy day but it was not to be. There's not too many things to get wrong but it does start with the banh mi baguette itself. Maybe making it gluten-free was the issue, I wish they tried harder and at least make it crispy. I ordered the lemongrass beef and the filling was good. It was flavorful with the right amount of lemongrass and the beef well cooked. I would put them ahead of some of the local Vietnamese restaurant there. However, they completely missed on the pate or whatever they used in its place. Lastly, the price.... It's very expensive for what it is. If you charge more then double the price of anyone else, you better have something truly remarkable (or good marketing) and they don't. read more

I am not Vietnamese but have eaten delicious Vietnamese food in Seattle, and this doesn't really resemble that at all. Like at all. My partner ordered the tofu noodle bowl and couldn't even finish it because of its odd taste that she said was like dirty dishwater. My chicken banh mi was not as terrible, hence the two stars, but wasn't really reminiscent of a banh mi sandwich, and the gluten-free bun, while not inedible, stuck to the paper in which it was wrapped. All of this, plus the overpricing (genuine banh mi sandwiches in Seattle cost just a few dollars, and everything here is $8.50), is why I won't go back. Disappointed! read more

I honestly don't often go to a food truck that I would want to go back to time and time again. The food may be good, but I would probably rather just hit up a restaurant. However, as a frequent consumer of all things gluten free and Vietnamese, this food truck was delicious. I can really see myself adding it to my regular rotation of food stops. The striped bass Bahn Mi was perfectly cooked and seasoned. I couldn't believe that the bread was gluten free. There are quite a bit of options for such a specialty food truck, and they have vegan and vegetarians choices that looked pretty yummy too. I can't wait to go back and try the other items. read more