I found this really amazing little Vietnamese sandwich and spring roll place on Maiden Lane just off Broadway. They sell a variety of sandwiches from traditional Banh mi all the way to sloppy Bao. They also have fresh rice paper spring roll papaya salad in boxes ready for lunch. To top everything off they supply Trung Nguyen coffee and tuong ot (siracha) hot sauce.
This was typical Vietnamese street food that I would grab on my way to Vietnamese class on bicycle in Saigon and on my way to work teaching English on my motor scooter in Hanoi back in the fall of 2007. Only in New York everything cost almost ten times as much!
Brought in the sandwich to introduce Vietnamese street cuisine to my coworkers at AGS.
It's really only open from around 10am until 5pm as the Financial district doesn't really have much in the way of night life. Hard to see but out front is a sign with an exploded view of all the ingredients that go into a 'Banh Mi.'
$6 for a sandwich? Oi choi oi! Dat qua! Com duoc! Translation: "OMFG too much, no can do!" Seriously I would pay around 8,000VND (about 50cents in 2007 USD) to the little teenaged girl with the baguette stand and she would fry up my Ban Mi on a charcoal grill.
I opted for the 'sloppy Bao' sandwich. It's like sloppy joe but instead the beef is curried and those light colored strips are slices of green sour mango. On the right is traditional Vietnamese fresh rice paper spring rolls with bbq chicken and some sort of hoisin dipping sauce. Perhaps my favorite lunch dish for under $10 in the City.
Two things I can't live without: Tuong Ot and Vietnamese coffee.
Always enjoyed the tastes of Vietnamese cuisine as it is mostly fresh, refreshing, tangy, and you control the spiciness.
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