This place ranked pretty high on my to try list for my Vietnamese sandwich hunt because every time I go to Tang Frere, I get one from Thieng Heng but watch all the other people, mostly non asians, eat sandwiches from Hoa Nam as they shop. In order to be able to really review it, I bought two sandwiches and ate 1.5 of them to get a realistic idea of whether or not the sandwich here is good.
This traiteur is huge and sells all types of vietnamese food and I would definitely recommend visiting if you are looking for vietnamese specialities. Banh mi is only one of the many things they offer.
The good:
- baguette quality is really good, much better than thieng heng
- they have a special sandwich called "sandwich bi" that has a type of fried pork strings with onions that i love (3 EUR)
- their house sandwich has really good quality meat that tastes really good (2.6 EUR)
- the chili is spread evenly throughout the sandwich, unlike most of the other sandwiches i've tried which is just in one spot
- price point is similar to thieng heng across the street
The not so good:
- plastic wrap on the sandwich is environmentally unfriendly
- They put way too much carrots and garnish in the sandwich and not enough meat, especially for the sandwich bi. Most of the time, you're just eating carrots and bread
According to the other reviews which I am just seeing, they accept ticket restaurant - I should try that for the sandwiches, though I would need to buy too many of them...so maybe i'll mix it in with other stuff. I will give this place one more try and also grab a lemongrass beef one to see how i feel. For now I have to leave the review at a 3, given eating carrots and bread for 3 EUR is a deal breaker for warranting a 4 star in my books. read more