Finally, in a sea of bubble tea, I have my preferred drink option: limeade. I'm just more of a sour acidic refresher type of guy, so whenever my gf is in the mood for bubble tea, I'm left stranded with something thicker than what I'm in the mood for-- but not anymore!
I made it a point to have their Crispy Pork Banh Mi before writing a review and while I thought I'd fall in love with it, it's good but not my taste. I was imagining more of a batter fried pork strips situation, a more westernized method of frying meats, but it was the style of pork chunks that's hyper crispy and puffy at the top and layered with gelatinous fat. It was tasty for what it was and not greasy, just not my cup of tea. It's a particular style of pork-- I'd google "heo quay" if you wanna see what I'm talking about. Also I've noticed it's popular with Hispanic males-- I think it has to do with the gristly fat texture. I guess we share that cultural preference. Yay world.
I did however fall head over heels for their classic Banh mi. Heavy on the pate which I love, and a fluffy crispy bread, with the right meat-to-bread ratio. My gf took a bite not expecting much and her expression was pure surprise and delight. It's her favorite place to get a Banh mi for the bread now and I'd have to agree. It's a very reliable representation of what makes a Banh mi stand out from other sandwiches.
And then there's the vempanadas. It's short for "Viet empanadas" and arguably what made them blow up. My mom made a lot of these growing up and my mom is regarded as the best cook out of like 8 kids and their children, so I like to think I have experience in this matter, and it's tastier than my mom's. To be fair, it's made fairly differently-- my mom makes it with a flakey filo-doughy crust and TBD has a softer more pliable dough-- think corn tortilla vs flour tortilla. I personally like flour tortillas more and you can fight me on that one. The filling is also more savory and rich than my mother's and the little quail egg inside is such welcomed treat. My mom's fillings are more meatball like and TBD's is pastier. Fun fact: this dish has origins tying it to France; the original dish is pate-chaud. If you google that too, you can see the evidence of a flakey texture. I will say, the first time I had it was more flavorful and I think the egg was missing the second time.
And lastly I want to talk about the thing keeps me crawling back-- the ches (pudding soup). I've always had a disinterest in Vietnamese che growing up because my western palate always demanded MORE SUGAR but as I age, my tastes demand more subtlety. Che is a general term for a kind of dessert soup, with some sort of ingredient like a bean or jello as the focus and a sweetened liquid; I know "soup" is a bit of a turn off but it's really the closest English term we have. Think more like milk in cereal or melted ice cream. Is there a term for the milk in cereal? Anywho, the che ba mau is the most popular and beginner friendly, it's a mix of 3 sweet ingredients like mung bean, red bean, Pandan jelly in like coconut milk. If you're Filipino, it's the Vietnamese equivalent to Halo Halo. But what's cool about TBD is they have different kinds of lesser known ones I'm currently having fun exploring. There's a mung bean one with a thicker sweet cream on top-- reminds me pie filling. And right now I'm about to dig into a Pandan jelly, grass jelly, in coconut milk, peanuts, and shaved ice. It's a fun ass summer drink dessert. I highly recommend if you're looking for something different and refreshing this summer. read more