Banh Mi other than Manhattan

[dar482]

Is it only Brooklyn that has banh mi outside of Manhattan? Anywhere in Queens or Long Island?
What would you suggest that's in Brooklyn for banh mi?

[bigjeff]

I would also rec Thanh Da II, just for a chance of pace from Ba Xuyen.

as for queens, we sadly must suffer while brooklynites rejoice.

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Ba Xuyen
4222 8th Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11232

Thanh Da II
5624 8th Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11220

[missmasala]

well, that would be a reversal, as it's usually us brooklynites suffering while you queens denizens rejoice in all the fine ethnic eats you have.

I wouldn't necessarily trade great banh mi for it, but honestly, what i would give for great thai in brooklyn. If Sri can open a place in long island, how hard can it be for them or one of the other good queens ones to open a place in brooklyn?

Oh, and second on my wish list? Or maybe first. Good south indian, particularly veg snacks like dosa.

just in case any restaurant people read these threads.

[bigjeff]

funny. ok, you got me; i think for all the talk about brooklyn being the new dining capital, etc., its definitely not referring to the et'nic immigrant stuff which queens revels in, yup. and my tastes are more chowhound than eater/nymag so . . . I guess I'm living in the right hood. but seriously, banh mi is so good!

[Peter Cherches]

That Thai place in Sunset Park that Sietsema liked was pretty disappointing.

I'm not holding my breath for good South Indian, or really good Indian period in Brooklyn, though my fantasy is that someone will open New York's first Gujarati Christian non-veg restaurant--there's a community in Brooklyn and they worship at a church just south of Sunset Park on 7th Ave.

[jen kalb]

the small Patel Grocery store at 5303 4th Avenue nearby is quite excellent. and focussed on that gujarati community, which I understand from someone else's post has mainly moved out of the city but comes back to the church. After driving all around CIA, Church Ave etc fruitlessly seeking green mango on Saturday,. I scored one, along with some nice curry leaves, green mango and desi dahi and some fresh guvar beans, from the wellkept supply of indian vegetables in their refrigerator case. Since it is a small store I will say, tongue in cheek, that it is "well-curated" I will be interested to see if they offer good mangoes as the season moves on.

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Patel Grocery
5303 4th Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11220

[missmasala]

I once spent an afternoon looking around CIA and Church ave for aloo paratha, toor dal, curry leaves, chucklees, and some chaat stuff, and pretty much came up empty. (the fabulous halal butchers on church are another matter, tho, and entirely worth the trip). I always forget about the Patel Grocery on 4th but will try that next time.

I do feel that a large Patel Bros type indian grocery is bound to open in the CIA/Church Ave area in the next five years, tho, or maybe that's just wishful thinking. I know the area is pakistani/bangladeshi, not indian, but i figure there's enough crossover, foodwise, to make it worthwhile.

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Patel Grocery
5303 4th Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11220

[tex.s.toast]

This thread triggered a memory for me - i recall earlier this year walking down 5th avenue past Eagle Provisions and seeing a hand-written sign in the window of a health food store next door advertising home-made indian snacks. i was in a rush and didnt have time to investigate, and pretty much forgot about it until just now. no clue how authentic/good it would be, or if they are offering southern fare or not, but it couldnt hurt if someone else got by there and checked it out.

on further searching it appears the place i was thinking of is called Balance Life and is run by a pakastani couple, but for those of us for whom sunset park is close but not super close, this could possibly be worth investigation.

[MOREKASHA]

There's a small Punjabi Christian Community in Richmond Hill. I haven't seen any restaurants that seem to be focused on them, yet.

[bigjeff]

and with that, we've come back to queens!

[missmasala]

I'm also waiting for the sunset park chinatown to catch up to the one in flushing. it's changed dramatically in the past five years, so i'm hoping another five will get us food courts and malls, lamb burgers, hunan cuisine, etc etc.

we already have some really good stuff to eat in SP, but there's always room for more.

[jen kalb]

based on whats happening on 18th Ave, Im thinking that some of the Chinese activity will be happening over there, rather than 8th Ave. Whatever the Chinese presence all over bensonhurst etc is exploding.

[ZenFoodist]

I have a hunch a great new bahn mi place will be coming to Flushing very soon ;)

[Helen F]

Do tell!

[ZenFoodist]

NORTH Flushing is all I can say now. I was sworn to secrecy. Great owners.

[noisejoke]

Stopped by Ba Xuyen tonight after work, for the first time in a long time. Had half of the wonderful slurry of the #3 bbq pork. Bread was crisp, moist and flavorful. Pork was chewy, slimy and salty, veggies were fresh, crunchy and fragrant. Unfortunately, half was the entirety to which I was destined to enjoy. I left my apartment for a minute, with the remainder of my sandwich on the kitchen counter, and returned to discover one of my dogs got it.

Still hungry, I indulged in my awesomely not too sweet and not too gummy coconut cake that I was saving for later.

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Ba Xuyen
4222 8th Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11232

[motl]

By general consensus, the best banh mi in Brooklyn can be found at Ba Xuyen, which is on 8th avenue and 42nd street in Sunset Park. (My personal favorite is the classic #1, but there are other options.)

Banh mi can also be found in Flushing, Queens (for instance, on the upper level of the Golden Mall on Main Street), but I don't have recommendations for where to find the best. Perhaps other Chowhounds do.

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Ba Xuyen
4222 8th Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11232

Golden Shopping Mall
41-28 Main St, Queens, NY 11355

[Peter Cherches]

The classic is great at Ba Xuyen, but I usually find myself torn between the wonderful lemongrassy grilled pork and the pork meatballs. I could never cotton to a sardine banh mi.

http://petercherches.blogspot.com

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Ba Xuyen
4222 8th Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11232

[jen kalb]

Our standard Ba Xuyen order is #1 (special with pate and viet cold cuts and #8 (the grilled lemongrass pork, spicy.

the chicken (forget the number) a pretty good version of curried chicken salad is also good. I dont like the bouncy texture of the meatballs however.

dont forget the pork spring rolls, the iced special coffee, the lemonad and the various desserts and noodle type dishes.

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Ba Xuyen
4222 8th Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11232

[Peter Cherches]

Jen, by spring rolls do you mean the cold ones (bi cuon), which I know they make, or do they also make fried ones (cha gio)?

[jen kalb]

I mean the fried ones. These days they sell them by the piece usually, over on the right hand side where the baked goods and taro cake are. The cha gio usually need to be reheated but they are good (not as good after they have lingered in the frig for a while). I dont much care for their summer roll type items (too dry) - I miss the egg and chinese sausage item with peanut sauce they used to make

[Peter Cherches]

I normally wouldn't be attracted to reheated cha gio, expecially since both Gia Lam and Thanh Hoai in the neighborhood make excellent ones.

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Gia Lam
4810 8th Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11220

[jen kalb]

since I always order for takeout, we are invariably reheating.
youd dhave to hit it right if you want them hot.

[missmasala]

The spring rolls at Ba Xuyen are different. They use a different kind of wrapper, or skin, less wrinkly and more smooth. nice for a change of pace.

The spring rolls are good heated up, tho I agree with Jen that they are less so after lingering in fridge.

[bigjeff]

motl,

how is that banh mi? peeked into Golden Mall this past weekend and it must've been awhile cuz I never seen that vietnamese place before, Golden Vietnam Bakery. not many customers but there was one old guy eating a banh mi; the bread didn't look very good but I am curious to try it, as well as their pho. the english takeout menu is simple with 11 items but it did seem like there were more chinese-only handwritten stuff on the wall. sandwiches were around $4.00, plus or minus depending on the type you get (classic, chicken, eel, beef short rib?, pate only)

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Golden Shopping Mall
41-28 Main St, Queens, NY 11355

[JMF]

had the banh mi once at Golden Mall, ok, but not great

[jason11355]

I'm no banh mi expert but I've had the #2 a couple of times and it's a pretty tasty chicken sandwich. Probably not super authentic but it's a nice option to have in the neighborhood. And the proprietor is really nice, I hope he can make it work.

[martinkleinman]

at ba xuyen, what do they mean by "pearl" drinks. I asked the lady there and she showed me a plastic container filled with what looked like cherry compote, but i have no idea what it was. when I asked her if it was cherries, she said "not cherry" but that was all i got. any clues? we had a #3 and a #5 and some spring rolls, all really really good and $8.75 total. not bad for a lunch adventure.

[devilishlyj]

Pearl drinks are also known as Bubble Tea/ Boba Tea. The pearls or bubbles are tapioca generally, but can also be lychee jelly or various other jellies. Come in so many varieties, here's some WIki for you:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bubble_tea