ISO Banh Mi/Pork Buns

[arp29]

My husband and I will be staying with my brother in Alexandria and doing the DC tourist thing for a few days. Whenever we travel he seeks out banh mi and pork buns because he loves both and they are largely unavailable where we live. Any places we should check out? Thanks for the input!

[Rick]

My cousin and I did a banh mi tour of the area, I ended up like Ba Le the best.

[arp29]

Thanks for your input everyone! I can't wait to try these places out!

[SandyCat]

Unverified, but I have a friend who says Szechuan House Restaurant in Chinatown has pretty good char siu bao (if that's the type of pork bun you mean). And he says they're really inexpensive, so hopefully if they aren't awesome, you won't have spent too much money.

748 6th St NW
(between N G Pl & N H St)
Washington, DC 20001

Eden Center is - of course - going to be the best place to get a banh mi and Vietnamese-style pork buns, but the pork belly banh mi at Dicksons Wine Bar is also good and it's within the district and has nice atmosphere.

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Eden Center
Falls Church, VA, USA, Falls Church, VA

Szechuan House Restaurant
748 6th St NW, Washington, DC 20001

[hamster]

Pho 14 also sells banh mi in the district, near the Columbia Heights metro station.

[woodleyparkhound]

I'd had one once and was heartily unimpressed; I won't do that again. Another bahn mi to steer clear of is the Sauca food truck version.

[hamster]

I tried one at Pho 14 once and liked it quite a bit. This was a while ago, but I would give it another shot.
I'm with you on the Sauca version though.

[woodleyparkhound]

I had mine probably two years ago now. While I wasn't at all impressed, I loved it when compared to Sauca's version - that one is pure evil! What I'm looking for is something like the attached photo. Maybe I should try Pho 14's once more to make sure I didn't just catch them on an off day...

[wayne keyser]

Definitely Eden Center (so many choices, so near to everything!) but my favorite is Huong Binh. I love the banh mi, and they have a rotating daily selection of by-the-pound things like stuffed fresh rice noodles, and a pretty-much-every-day selection of pre-wrapped specialties. And house-made cha gio and pork buns.

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Eden Center
Falls Church, VA, USA, Falls Church, VA

[chowser]

There's a BaLe bakery that has good banh mi--if it's not in Alexandria, it's pretty close. What kind of pork buns do you want? I'd probably head over to Eden Center, though, for better food and you can find what you want.

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Eden Center
Falls Church, VA, USA, Falls Church, VA

[hamster]

My favorite banh mi are at Song Que deli in Eden Center, which is not very far from Alexandria. Also good bubble tea there. There are couple of banh mi shops in that shopping center. Best to drive, or you can walk (20 minutes) from the closest metro stop.

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Eden Center
Falls Church, VA, USA, Falls Church, VA

[Steve]

Hearty second to Song Que, which also have baked pork buns, though they sell out of those before too long.