Casual Foodie
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Hands down the best fried chicken banh mi in New York (literally I cannot find fried chicken banh mi anywhere else, please let me know if you know a place!). They also have extremely delicious drinks and dessert. There are 7-8 tables for sitting and this place fills up with students and people around the area throughout the day. There is also a bathroom.
We ordered a chicken banh mi, classic banh mi, a fried chicken rice bowl (which I substituted for grilled chicken, though I think grilled chicken is more expensive), an iced Vietnamese coffee, and a pandan waffle (not pictured).
Both banh mis were delicious in their own way. The fried chicken was super crispy, tender, hot, and not dry. The bread was toasted slightly on the outside so every bite included a crunch from the bread into some pickled carrots, cilantro, cucumber, and a bit of crispy chicken. You can order the banh mi spicy or not and the spicy version includes jalapeños. The classic banh mi has the standard banh mi pate and ham ingredients inside. If you like the classic flavors, you’ll like this one. The fried chicken rice bowl was similar to the chicken banh mi but just over a piping hot mound of white rice. This rice was cooked perfectly, was slightly sticky and soft, and blended amazingly with the crispy chicken. We were also offered some cilantro sauce and spicy mayo on the side and both sauces added that touch of extra flavor explosion. I personally loved the cilantro sauce. It was herby, a little salty, and just added some moisture to the carbs.
The iced viet coffee was quite sweet but I believe you can adjust the sweetness level. It’s pretty good for viet coffee but it is pre-made and not drip made for each order. The star of the show (which I forgot to take a photo of because I was too excited to eat it) was the pandan egg waffle. Not many places make good egg waffles and even fewer places make pandan egg waffles. I believe the bambu cafe in Manhattan has pandan waffles as well but they are just waffles and not egg waffles. Egg waffles have little egg shaped ovals in the waffle. This creates little breakable ovals that have crispy edges and soft and moist insides. The waffle is not too sweet and the pandan flavor really shines. I may like this more than the fried chicken I touted earlier. If you are in the area, you MUST come and try this place!