Sigmund K.
Google
Came here for lunch today after my wife recently found this spot. It's really easy to find right off of McCormick; the plaza it's in has a decently-sized lot but still seemed pretty packed today. The interior is pretty clean and open but not too much actual seating for the amount of space it has. There are three tables that can seat four, one elevated table with two barstools, and some bar seating by the window. They also have a couple of small couches/benches by the TV and what I think was a karaoke setup.
They have 10 different bahn mi on the menu along with a grilled pork rice dish, one pho dish, and several Vietnamese drinks/pastries/desserts. We went with the grilled beef bahn mi, grilled pork bahn mi (toppings on the side for both), and the grilled pork rice dish. The lady who took our order was very nice. Aside from us, the only other people seated were the owner and a few of his friends, but there were several people going in and out with to-go orders while we were there.
The food came out pretty quickly and looked/smelled fresh with the bahn mi cut in half as requested. The toppings for the bahn mi came in their own sandwich bag on the side, and my rice dish came with a small bowl of soup which I almost mistook for fish sauce at first (unfortunately it wasn't, but the soup was still light and pleasant). The bahn mi are a little smaller compared to something you might get from Argyle, but I tried the grilled pork and it tasted great! Bread was both soft and slightly crunchy but not hard enough to cut the roof off your mouth, and the pork had a lot of flavor and was cooked well. Same goes for the grilled pork in my rice dish. Everything in this dish seemed on par with similar dishes I've had at other places (fried egg was nice and runny too), though this one doesn't come with Chinese sausage which was a little disappointing. Also disappointing was that they have Kikkoman brand fish sauce at the table which tasted more like soy sauce, rather than (what I assume is) the more traditional, lighter, and flavorful fish sauce that has an orange-ish color. I usually devour this dish with the right fish sauce, but using the Kikkoman brand took away from the experience, unfortunately.
As we finished up I asked the owner what we should do with the plates and he said we can just leave them on the table. He was also very nice and friendly. All in all this is a place we can see ourselves coming back to! I'll just withhold on the bottled fish sauce next time.
