John G.
Yelp
My son had another appointment in the area, and I immediately drove to Banh Mi Bale. To my disappointment, they were closed so I was perusing Yelp whether to stay in the area to look for another Banh Mi place or drive back home. This place popped up and it was just a few blocks away, so why not?
Customers are placing their orders online for pick-up or ordering at the door. Literally at the door due to Covid, similar to other places. I was waiting in line and by the time I got to the door, the guy taking my order was rude. He changed his tune a bit after I ordered 4 different sammiches, but dude really needs to take a chill pill.
I got the following:
Banh mi dac biet (combination pork belly $6.00)
Banh mi thit nu'ong (roast pork $5.00)
Banh mi thit ba chi khia (pork belly $5.50)
Banh mi thit bo xao sa (lemongrass beef $5.50)
When I got home, I was excited to try them and one thing I immediately noticed after cutting them in half was that the filling was miniscule compared to Banh Mi Bale. Looking at the old pictures from other Yelpers, it appears they have skimped on ingredients and now it's mostly bread. After biting into it, I was tasting mostly bread and it was doughy. I popped them in the air-fryer and it crisped up the exterior, but it couldn't save the sandwiches. The flavors were lackluster, and nothing stood out...just chewing on too much bread in every bite. Even the jalapenos weren't spicy.
Maybe one time they were good and decent, as other Yelpers had written and mentioned on their reviews. Any "mom" wouldn't be proud of serving these to their kids.