K SANDWICHES

[normalheightsfoodie]

I went to K Sandwiches yesterday with a friend and 3 kids. We all loved it. they have the most amazing sandwiches priced at 2.69 and 3.69. they appear to have a Vietnamese influence. They put Subway etal to shame. I believe that they are on par with Grab and Go, but they are 1/2 to 1/3 the price.

The use crunchy bagets for most of their sandwiches, some come on very large croisonts(?)
The sandwiches come with lettuce, tomato, pickles and jalepenos, I choose to have mustard instead of mayo. They appear to be about a foot long. My son and his friend split the Turkey and Cheese. I had the Special #1, it had a variety of coldcuts and pate. It was very good. Some of them are served hot others are served cold. They offer everything from tuna to roasted pork.

Is this place new, or have I been missing out for a long time?

-----
K Sandwiches
7604 Linda Vista Rd, San Diego, CA 92111

[honkman]

I often read about K Sandwich on CH and overall it sounded like a promising place for Banh Mi My wife and I tried it finally today and honestly we are quite puzzled why it gets such positive reviews. Their iced milk coffee was very good and we bought a few things for breakfast tomorrow (croissant etc,) which look promising but the two Banh Mis (Dac biet and BBQ pork) were very disappointing and some of the worst we had in SD. The baguette is made in-house and taste good but wasn't even lightly toasted and cold. Both Banh Mi had a few slice of some flavorless cold cuts but no pate or anything (even mayonnaise would have helped ) which would give some flavor and help to make the sandwich less dry. Hardly any carrots or daikon and one Banh Mi had tons of cilantro, the other one nothing. Do they have a secret menu like In'N'Out to get the good stuff or are they really this bad and our expectations were too high ?

[Josh]

Sounds like their quality has declined precipitously. I haven't been in quite some time, but remember abundant carrot, daikon, and jalapeno.

[DiningDiva]

It may also just be cyclical. Mesa started it's Fall semester last week and was really busy. They may have been slammed all week and had a hard time keeping up and today was a breather

[SeanT]

Perhaps honkman just got a bad sandwich. A couple bad sandwiches do not a precipitous decline make.

I always ask for extra pickled daikon carrot and cilantro and have never been charged extra. I am no banh mi expert but I have never had a bad sandwich at K. Not always exactly as I would like them but bad?? never.

[SeanT]

Umm where have you been in San Diego that is better? While k does not hold a candle to my fave, banh mi che cali in westminster, for SD it is good with a nice energetic atmosphere. Love the coconut waffle and chocolate croissants.

[honkman]

I live in Mira Mesa and there are a number of Banh Mi place like Bale, Cali Baguette, European Bakery etc. which have much better Banh Mi for a very similar price.

[royaljester]

European Bakery does have a better sandwitch, but it was like $4 if I remember. Great rum balls too when u are decandent. Thanks for the reminder!

[DougOLis]

Went to European Bakery today and the pate, steamed pork, and ham sandwich was $3.25. And it was quite a bit better than the last sandwich I had at K a few weeks ago where the bread was a bit stale and dry.

[royaljester]

Great to hear, thanks for setting that straight!

[mjill]

That's what you've got to love about honkman. At $2.75 per sandwich with most of the product made in house, he'll still find a way to belly ache about it. They probably didn't roll out the red carpet on entry, which killed the deal for him at the get go.

I find picking up a dozen of thier rolls for $1.00 to be a pretty good steal in addition to the sandwiches.

[DiningDiva]

I don't think it's belly aching. It hink his comment was more in the quality of the end product and the value for the price. A crappy sandwich for $2.75 is still a crappy sandwich even if it is cheap. Just because something is cheap/inexpensive doens't automatically make it "good" (which we all know is pretty subjective when it comes to food) or a good value.

Cheap does not (always) = good

[mjill]

The amount of processed junk food in that sandwich is small and they manage to keep it cheap. That's big points in my book. Also add that they're good sandwiches and it's a no brainer. Are they the best ever? No way but they're darn good and about half the going rate on a sando that size. So, yes, I think there is a bit of value in what you are paying for and a bit of belly aching going on too.

[honkman]

It would help you if you would read posts and not just write something useless. A bad Banh Mi is a bad Banh Mi.

[Josh]

Most of the product made in house? I think that's a bit of a stretch. They make the bread, but I don't think they're making charcuterie and condiments, nor do I think they're growing their own vegetables. And in point of fact, honkman specifically cited the bread as being good.

If I got something billed as a banh mi that was short on pickled carrot and daikon, with bad quality meat, I'd be disappointed too. K Sandwiches has a lot of critics who know good banh mi. I used to enjoy them in the past, but I no longer live nearby so the last time I ate there was probably more than a year ago.

-----
K Sandwiches
7604 Linda Vista Rd, San Diego, CA 92111

[normalheightsfoodie]

I posted this and I have always found it to be very good, but I always order the #1, and I think it does have the pate, I once ordered the bbq pork, and I think it was a spam type meat and I did not like it at all. My children get ham and cheese sandwiches with nothing else on them. I do wish they offered mustard to be put on the sandwich.

We like the chocolate croisants very much.

[jweg]

I always get the #1 as well which does have pate and has always been very tasty. I enjoy their spring rolls, warm pate in pastry, sticky rice with sausage, the croissants. The shop is right by my place of imprisonment/employment which certainly adds to the appeal but when time allows I would like to try some of the places in Mira Mesa recommended by Honkman.

[royaljester]

I always get the same sandwitch, so maybe they're just inconsistent with their menu. Yeah, I wouldn't set my expectations too high but that said I've been pleased.

[Dagney]

A Chau, located at Menlo and El Cajon Bl is also excellent. Three brothers run the place, and their mother does the cooking. The BBQ pork is some of the best around. They also have a revolving menu of Vietnamese food, kind of Vietnamese version of Super Cocina.

[fried22rice]

cali baguette express definitely does it better. driving up the 163 for a 3 dollar sandwich doesnt make sense. the meat and bread are a lot better at CBE although they are .15 to .30 cents more! they also have a drive thru which is very unique. they both have fresh bread baked on the spot, but service and quality puts CBE ahead.

[normalheightsfoodie]

Is this the place on El Cajon Blvd and around 50ht Street.

[KirkK]

Across the street from Pho Ca Dao and World Foods.

More rice flour than K Sandwich. Holds up a bit better. I enjoy the Banh Mi Trung for breakfast.

-----
Cali Baguette Express
5125 El Cajon Blvd, San Diego, CA 92115

[Josh]

Kirk, you might find this interesting. A Vietnamese chef goes into great detail about the making of the Vietnamese baguette - you might be surprised to see what she has to say about rice flour.

http://vietworldkitchen.typepad.com/b...

[KirkK]

That's fine, but I'm looking for what I had in Vietnam, which was high in Rice Flour. She is a Vietnamese-American Chef, she left Vietnam when she was 6. Not to take anything away from Andrea Nguyen, she had done a lot for Vietnamese Food in the US(she uses sensible substitutes and shortcuts), but there's nothing like the crisp and flaky banh mi in VN. There is a bakery in Westminster called Cho Cu who makes Banh Mi that's pretty close....their secret? I was told the ratio of rice flour.

[Josh]

Right, I understand. My only point in posting that was to raise the question of whether or not rice flour is strictly necessary to achieve that texture.

[Alice Q]

how does the iced coffee at the City Heights places compare to K's? I didn't like Dore's coffee as much, though the sandwich was comparable. I've been thinking about going to K and just asking for extra meat and extra carrots - since those are the things they seem to skimp on lately - I'm also kind of tired of the cilantro stems.

[Alice Q]

If you're a coffee drinker, the iced milk coffee (cafe sue da) is wonderful. Addictive, actually. I like the roasted pork myself - and always get a coffee. It is my understanding that the baguettes are made with some rice flour which gives them the light crunch. They are a great budget find!

[phee]

Thanks for the heads up. I haven't tried their coffee yet, nor the pan au chocolate. But I love their breads, and it's a great place to get a banh mi when you're in a rush.
I know where I'm going for lunch this week!

[royaljester]

Yeah they have great iced coffee, strong like you'd expect from Vietnamese coffee.

[LaurenZ]

ok, so I know this is sacrelige to ask...but has anyone asked for a decaf iced milk coffee? I love them but after about 2 sips I go into a caffeine fit that ruins me for the afternoon. I may as well just go home and lie on my couch.

I have been too afraid to ask yet if they have decaf.

[Cathy]

Never have seen decaf.

It could be the sugar from the sweetened condensed milk...130 calories/22 g carbs in 2 Tbs

[Cathy]

The breakfast sandwiches are also wonderful (and less expensive) along with the $1 pate chaud and $1 waffles.

The steam tray items deserve a look also.

Glad you found it.

[KirkK]

K Sandwich opened in August of 2006, and is modeled around the very popular Lee Sandwich chain. Very easy to take Banh Mi. For me K is mostly known for the "Josh Silberman" shrine....the highly prized and framed copy of his CityBeat review. he-he-he....

If you live in Normal Heights, you have access to many more traditional Banh MI shops with ingredients like you'll find in Vietnam. In cities like Hanoi you'll find a Banh Mi stand on every corner. I've been told that the best Banh Mi uses rice flour as part of the mix.

[stevewag23]

which ones to you recommend in Normal heights?

[KirkK]

Not in Normal Heights but in City Heights are a bunch of places mentioned here on CH. Closer to the Normal Heights, than Mesa College. If you enjoy K Sandwich, you may enjoy Cali Baguette Express, which does about the same thing, but does it better.

-----
Kim Chan Sandwich Shop
4712 El Cajon Blvd, San Diego, CA 92115

Cafe Dore
4135 University Ave, San Diego, CA 92105

Saigon Sandwiches & Deli
4133 University Ave, San Diego, CA 92105

Paris Bakery
4481 El Cajon Blvd, San Diego, CA

Cali Baguette Express
5125 El Cajon Blvd, San Diego, CA 92115

[stevewag23]

Great list!

How do those rate VS Vo's Cafe?

[Enorah]

You have been missing out.

lol

It has been discussed here many times

[Ewilensky]

You've been missing out... ;-)

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/501844

Also love their pan au chocolate with a milk coffee -- enough sugar and caffine to put an elephant into a diabetic coma.

Great stuff and I imagine a fun place for kids with allt he neon, tvs and frenetic energy.

And the prices can't be beat.