I could estow the virtues of Banh Mi all day. I admire how it integrates the best of French colonial influence with the ingredients of Vietnamese cuisine. I enjoy how its crunchy french baguette exterior hides its flavourful interior like the surprise birthday party you’ve always wanted. I love that its cheap and includes the pate; its offal-friendly ingredients betrays no pretension that banh mi is a comfort food. In short, there aren’t many sandwiches that can’t beat a Banh Mi.

While cities like New York are reveling in their Banh Mi renaissance, Toronto’s Asian communities take a business as usual attitude towards this familiar staple. While the rest of the city sleep on this delicacy, those in the know still take Banh Mi for granted; as if it were as plain as the common whole wheat bread found in the bakery section of grocery stores.

Make no mistake, there’s nothing plain about Banh Mi. However, the bakery section is exactly where you’ll find Banh Mi, readily available in many Chinese grocery stores. Most of them will have been supplied by Nguyen Hong food company.

If you’re not satisfied with the grocery store variety, you’ll be happy to know that Nguyen Hong also has retail locations that make fresh Banh Mi on demand. You can definitely taste the difference between store-bought Banh Mi and a freshly made one. The bread and pickled vegetabls are crunchier, the cilantro more fragrant… and are generally bigger in size and portion compared to those you find in the grocery stores. You get more Banh Mi for the same price you would pay.

Since discovering the Nguyen Huong retail location, I no longer buy Banh Mi from grocery stores. Whenever I’m in the neighbourhood of Steeles and Middlefield (east of McCowan), I make it a priority to indulge my Banh Mi cravings. The Chinatown location might be convenient for downtown foodies, and if anyone knows of another location, please share with us in the comments!

For me, Banh Mi is the perfect sandwich. I even enjoy it when brought to work as lunch. I’d rather have 2 Banh Mi instead of a footlong. Why not? The cost of a footlong to 2 Banh Mi’s are comparable the same. Sadly, Toronto’s Banh Mi renaissance will probably come when famous chefs re-package sandwich as a sexy dish. Who’s going to reinvent Banh Mi, the way David Chang reinvented the pork belly bun? Until then, imagine with me a world that with Banh Mi stalls in the food court instead of Subways. Hmm.. maybe Subway needs to introduce a Banh Mi flavour?

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