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3962 W. Waters Ave., Tampa, 813-932-0300
I have a friend who is, to say the least, an adventurous eater. He’s my go-to guy for pickled meat and brown Scandinavian cheese tastings. But when it comes to actually sitting down for an extended meal from some of the more mundane ethnic cuisines, he balks. Especially when it comes to Southeast Asia. Why? He misses the bread.
Thankfully, there is one Pacific Rim culinary hotspot that can treat him right. One remnant of years of French colonial influence in Vietnam is a tradition of bread-making that is completely out of character to the bean- and rice-flour culinary cultures that surround the country (and, to be certain, dominate inside Vietnam, as well.) Baguettes are still a rare side in most spots — besides the occasional hunk of crusty bread with soup or stew — but there is one bready, largely-Western treat that the Vietnamese enjoy with relish: banh mi.
Banh mi are the same kinds of street food sandwiches that you see on every street corner in Paris, just a simple combination of meat and accompaniments that’s perfect for a light meal on the go. In France, these portable snacks are astounding thanks to great bread and good cheese. In Vietnam, the accompaniments are what elevate the banh mi to world-class standard.
And Saigon Deli is a mecca for some of the best banh mi in the Bay area.
This article appears in Jun 10-16, 2009.