Bánh Mì Cô Út

Finding the Best Banh Mi in Chinatown | Eater NY

"At three years old, it’s really just a counter and kitchen with no seating, run by chef Co Ut Tran who I often saw making the sandwiches; she offers evolved takes worth trying and was the first I know of to use a fancy grade of Virginia smoked ham. At the top of the menu is the shop’s special ($9.25), an overstuffed celebration of pork jammed with sliced pork belly, Vietnamese ham, fried ham, and French ham, the bottom smeared with rich, crumbly pate and mayo — a prodigious quantity of pig that almost overshadows the other ingredients but turned out to be my favorite. On return visits I tried the pork shoulder braised in “special fish sauce” ($7.50), which was less flavorful than it sounded, and the grilled Vietnamese pork sausage in peanut sauce ($8.50), which had an oily coating on the plump, grainy sausage that tasted almost like fermented peanut liqueur." - Robert Sietsema