663069 Wed Oct 28 13:28:35 -0700 2009 8 18 Manhattan 0 5138127 To judge from the spectacular pork chop bun plate I ordered from the specials board this place is really coming into focus. One of the best new dishes I've had in a long while. Wed Oct 28 13:28:35 -0700 2009 20276 wew 1 5154180 I've been frequenting An Choi for a while now and have tried many of the things on their regular menu as well as their Daily Specials, and I feel like it's time to be a cheerleader. Also, having just returned from SoCal and having dined at a few Westminster establishments, I feel that I have a slightly better sense of how their food is on an absolute basis (as opposed to just comparing them to the many mediocre Manhattan establishments out there). I'll go through everything I've tried: 1) BANH MI - I've stuck mostly with the Dac Biet (cold cut/classic) and the Thit Heo Quay (crispy roasted pig). The bread has a nice crust-to-white ratio and is just crunchy enough while being chewy. You can also tell they use high quality ingredients, as, in the Dac Biet, you can‘t help but taste the Vietnamese ham, the headcheese, and hints of the pate. The pickled veggies are flavorful without being too acidic. I think the Heo Quay can be inconsistent. At its best, it is amazing - succulent, moist, flavorful pork with crispy, crackling skin - a lot like the best suckling pig you’d get from Chinese bbq places. If you get it at other times, however, it can be a little dry, and the skin may be nonexistent or a little more chewy. For reference, I've gone to a lot of other NYC banh mi places, and this is how I compare theirs' to An Choi's: * Banh Mi Saigon Bakery - Definitely a great sandwich; however, they subscribe to the Italian hogie style of sandiwch making, in thinking bigger is better. The bread is too thick, which prevents it from having a nice delicate crunch. They also stuff their sandwiches with a ton of filling - I think this skews the bread-to-filling ratio too much toward the filling and throws off the balance in each bite. * Banh Mi So 1 - like Saigon Bakery except not as good :) * Ba Xuyen - Also a great sandwich. The bread, I think, might be better than An Choi's, in that the white part is VERY fluffy, while the outside remains its crispiness. The meat/veggie combo in the filling is pretty decent too. However, they rely too much on mayo+sriracha to flavor the sandwich. * Baoguette - I'll be obnoxious and say this was a banh mi made for Westerners. The baoguette classic combines the vietnamese ham and veggies with an overly-sweet roasted pork filling. This sweet filling completely overpowers the remaining flavors. * Nicky's - Nice toasted baguette, but um, where are the meat and veggies? :) Seriously, though, I think the bread-to-filling ratio is skewed way in favor of the bread. * Sau Voi - Probably the cheapest banh mi around - their bread is almost like Ba Xuyen's, in that it's crispy with a lot of fluffiness, but it's slightly less crunchy. Also, the ingredients are extremely bland, and, unless you tell them otherwise, they douse the sandwich with a LOT of mayo. I ate at two places in Westminster that received good reviews - Nhu Lan Bakery and Banh Mi Cho Cu. Those are tough to beat, given that a sandwich at these places costs $2, and the area's the epicenter of Vietnamese cuisine. However, I think An Choi's banh mi is at least in the same ball park – it’s not as subtle and delicate, but it’s a little bigger / bolder without going overboard. 2) PHO - I think these guys have the best pho in Manhattan, full stop. Maybe that's not a great accomplishment, but personally, I like their pho better than that of Pho 79 or Pho So 1 in SoCal. Unlike many of the bowls you'll find in Chinatown, the broth is not overly oily, salty, nor acidic. What you get is a fantastic depth of beef flavor coupled with the spices they put in (cinnamon, cloves, coriander, and star anise). For the beef pho, they only have one type, so unfortunately for you offal lovers, there are no bowls with tripe, etc. But the meat they have in there is of high quality, and you have the option of adding beef meatballs, which are great. As a friend put it this past weekend, it's the first bowl of pho she ate that was so flavorful that she did not need sriracha nor hoisin sauce to accompany it. The chicken pho was a revelation. I generally think chicken pho is so much less flavorful than beef pho and never order it, but there have been times at An Choi where I've gone for the chicken. They somehow make the chicken broth as good as the beef broth, but in a completely different way. The chicken has also been stewed for the correct amount of time, as it tends to be moist rather than dry/overcooked. Any “Best of” chicken noodle soup lists in NY should include An Choi’s chicken pho. 3) REMAINING REGULAR MENU ITEMS – I’ve gotten the bun thit nuong (dry vermicelli with roasted pork) and the regular summer rolls. The bun is pretty good – a little too much noodles relative to the meat and veggies, but everything is very fresh and flavorful. The skin they use for the summer rolls is perfect, in that it’s much more delicate and chewy, but I find the filling to be a little too subtle for my tastes. My gf loves them though, especially the nem nuong (pork meatball) summer rolls, which they have as a daily special. DAILY SPECIAL ITEMS – these are rotating weekly, but I’m told that they’re adding many of these to the regular menu pretty soon 4) BUN SUON BI (lemongrass pork chops with vermicelli) – this is the dish that the OP raved about, and I agree. Typically, in Vietnamese restaurants, the grilled pork chop is about 1/3 of an inch thick. This allows for more surface area contact, and the entire chop is nicely seasoned. However, the draw-back is that it is typically very dry. An Choi’s version is an absolute whopper – about an inch thick. The pork is a little more delicately seasoned, but it’s also much more juicy and flavorful. Yes, a few parts of the chop (those furthest away from the fat and the bone) are just pretty good, but the rest of the chop is succulent, and delicious. For $12, it’s not dirt/Chinatown cheap, but you’re getting a great dish at a pretty darn good price. 5) BO KHO (beef stew) / CARI GA (curry chicken). Both are very nice versions of the classics you can get elsewhere. The beef stew has a very light, almost clear, broth (surprising for beef stew, but typical for Viet beef stew), the meat is pretty high quality and very tender, and you get large chunks of daikon and carrot. If you had to pick between the beef and the chicken, however, I’d go with the chicken. The curry broth itself had a great depth of flavor – not too thin with coconut milk like other versions. The dark meat was tender and melted off the bone, and even the white meat was pretty decent. 6) THIT KHO (caramelized pork belly) – This was one of my favorite dishes growing up. This dish typically consists of stewed chunks of pork, belly with three layers (meat, fat, skin) in a sweet caramelized broth, usually with a hard boiled egg (or three) soaked for good measure. An Choi’s fantastic interpretation uses a one large chunk of pork belly, and is reminiscent of the Japanese buta kakuni dish or the Shanghainese tong po ruo dish. The only other places I’ve found the Vietnamese version in NYC are at Hoi An, in Tribeca, and Baoguette St., Marks, which served it for about two weeks. Pho So 1 has it too, but I’ve never tried it. At An Choi, you get a large, slightly reddish chunk of pork belly that you can separate with your fork and melts in your mouth. The broth is powerful, both sweet and salty, and if you douse too much of it on the meat, it can be overpowering. I love this dish, but my gf thinks the sauce is too sweet. As you can tell, I love the food at An Choi. Yes, compared to places in Chinatown, the food is more pricey. The Banh mis are $6-$8, and the other dishes are ~$9-$14. However, you are getting higher quality and better ingredients. Also, while I love the charm of eating in a hole-in-the-wall as much as the next person, I prefer the slightly more upscale (but still low key), hip setting at An Choi. You wouldn’t hesitate to take a first date to An Choi; I don’t think you could say the same about, say, a Nha Trang or Cong Ly. ☺ And, compared not just to other Viet restaurants, but compared to other Manhattan restaurants with good food, I think An Choi is a pretty good value. P.S. Don’t forget to try their version of the Michelada drink, with beer, lime juice, and, instead of tobasco and Worcestershire sauce, sriracha and Maggi. Tue Nov 03 23:47:07 -0800 2009 5138127 118675 NYAngeleno 2 5154523 you really liked an choi's banh mi that much? maybe ill have to try it again, but when i ate it a while ago i thought it was just so so. it's possible since i went there shortly after they opened, they've honed their skills more http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/605930 banh mi cho cu is good, but i prefer banh mi che cali (i basically get it everytime i fly back to NY from home for the plane....not only ridiculously cheap, but really good). I didn't think an choi's banh mi was even close to either, which is combo of better bread, but more noticeably better filling. Although it's somewhat difficult to beat a specialist banh mi place w/ high turnover like banh mi che cali b/c they have constant turnover and are constantly baking so you get very fresh baguettes (and they make them well). I also think banh mi saigon is better than an choi, but i'll give it another try since you and i seem to have similar tastes and i've only been there once, so it may have gotten better i'll have to try their pho; would love to find a good pho place in manhattan. btw next time go to socal go to pho thanh lich (really great beef and chicken pho). Its by far my favorite pho place in socal, i actually don't like pho 79 at all (i reviewed it in those reviews i posted for you), its very heavy / oily and has too much star anise, i don't understand why it's so popular. its very close to where i live in the LES, so i'll go re-try it soon Wed Nov 04 06:23:27 -0800 2009 5154180 12298 Lau 2 5154585 btw have you tried their bun cha ca? i love that dish when done right Wed Nov 04 06:44:15 -0800 2009 5154180 12298 Lau 3 5159943 I had actually read your post about their banh mi prior to my review. I don't think the sandwich has changed that much from the restaurant's inception, though the bread quality will vary depending on the day (I've gotten some that were too crispy, etc.). So it could either be that you didn't get a good version, or that you just don't like it, which is absolutely possible (I think NY Mag and other banh mi lists don't show An Choi much love). I will say that if it's the filling you didn't like, then maybe try the classic instead of the thit nuong. I might have tried the straight pork once, and I don't remember being in love with it. I'd love to hear your (or anybody else's) thoughts on the pho after having tried it. The star anise might be a little strong for your tastes (it's not overpowering by any stretch, but if you don't like anise, you might be sensitive to it). It looks like they've redone their menu in the last couple days to include the daily specials, which is fantastic. I need to go back to get the pork chop rice (I hope it's broken!) and try the bun cha ca (which I haven't really had that many times in my life). Btw, Re: OC - I perused your 3-part posting and used that as once of the sources for my trip. Next time, I'll definitely check out Pho Thanh Lich, Pho Kimmy, and Banh Mi Che Cali! Thu Nov 05 20:15:47 -0800 2009 5154585 118675 NYAngeleno 4 5160296 yeah im probably going to try it this weekend, maybe tonight i actually like star anise, but pho 79 just has way too much of it...its a super popular place, but i think pho thanh lich kills it. btw pho thanh lich is def my favorite (i think its much better than pho 79 or pho kimmy...which are both famous as well). try pho tau bay for their banh cuon (amazing) and if you like com tam (broken rice) go to Com Tam Tran Quy Cap (awesome com tam) Fri Nov 06 04:48:21 -0800 2009 5159943 12298 Lau 5 5164181 I had the Hue style Pho today and loved it. The owners have decided to redo the menu and run the night specials all the time Sat Nov 07 18:20:33 -0800 2009 5160296 1118902 VINEAPPLE 4 5165083 I would agree with NYAngeleno. After trying the pork belly and the Hue Pho I would put An Choi into the hole in the wall that is really cooking category. The pork belly is a great comfort dish, larger is size than I would have expected with great sweet savory appeal. The Hue Pho is a supper hit from the asian cannon of hot sour broths that I'm a sucker for. This one was highlighted with slices of rich brisket and pig feet (?), to contrast with the lime and heat Sun Nov 08 10:03:28 -0800 2009 5159943 20276 wew 2 5177905 Thanks for the great post. I'm definitely gonna try this place after reading this! Thu Nov 12 23:22:25 -0800 2009 5154180 17058 Pan