BANH MI OI - West Roxbury — Restaurant in Boston

Edit #2: 7/23/2024: I still haven't been back to this place, but got a notification a few months ago saying that my review received 10k views. This made me check the review, and found that the owner had updated their response with a scathing, sarcastic, and insulting reply. Extremely unprofessional, but I understand we are all human.

Now that my review has 15k views, I suppose the owner realized how bad his response made him look, and subsequently edited his response to a more toned down version of the original (the original basically calling me a no-life angry boy who only spends all day writing angry reviews on the internet... when I've written a total of about 6 reviews in the past decade... 🤔)

Tip to the owner: maybe own up to your mistakes and rectify your operational shortcomings to improve your business, rather than denigrate and publicly insult your potential customers.

Edit: 1/11/2023 (over 2 years later): I haven't been back to this place, but lowering my rating from 2 stars to 1 star. When they respond to a negative review 2 years after-the-fact, with a generic copy-paste message, you know that the restaurant is more interested in maintaining public image than it is in actual customer satisfaction.

Please at least be competent enough to customize the text fields in your copy-pasted response. Leaving an unfilled ..."reach out to us directly at [your contact information] so that we can address your concerns..." is not exactly a good look. Hate to think that this shop's technology skills are on par with their cooking abilities.

Ok, sorry, but this place is not that good, and definitely does not deserve the 4.6 rating it currently has. It might be good "for the area" (considering that I couldn't seem to find any other decent food options around), but absolutely lacks when you compare it to any Vietnamese restaurant in/around the city.

My biggest complaint would be portion size for the price. The portions that they give you are abysmal. I paid $29 for an order of beef pho and lemongrass steak vermicelli.

1.) The Pho - If you go to a more authentic spot, such as Le's in Cambridge, Pho88 in Malden, Pho Pasteur in Chinatown, etc., they all have a similar menu. You can get an extra large bowl with sirloin, flank steak, brisket, tripe, tendon, etc. for around $13. At BANH MI OI, I paid $14 for a tiny bowl, around 1/3 the portion of any of the other restaurants, with about only 4 or 5 small slices of just brisket -- no other cuts of meat. Furthermore, the broth here tasted of pure sodium; would not be surprised if it were made from pre-packaged broth powder.

2.) The Vermicelli - I wish I could rate this, except somehow, in an order of only 2 items, the restaurant got my order wrong and gave me a rice bowl instead of a vermicelli bowl. Very annoyed, as I'm a huge noodle fan, and not that keen on rice. I did notice that the beef in the rice bowl has very large slabs of fat (see pic). Unfortunately, this place is about 45 mins from my house, otherwise, I 100% would have complained to the restaurant.

In conclusion, BANH MI OI is mediocre in terms of taste and quality of food, very poor in terms of portion size and value. There also isn't really much of an area to eat-in, so keep in mind this is mostly a take-out or...

Came here recently with my wife while we were in the area. I'll be reviewing the food I ate, while also including opinions from my wife who had the Pho.

Food: I had the Grilled pork Banh Mi and it was pretty good. Probably one of the better banh mi's I've had in the Boston area (doesn't compare to Vietnam, Cali or even Texas). Highlight for me was the baguette. Right amount of softness (inside) with crispiness (outside) that didn't also flake and break apart everywhere like some other places around the city. There could have been more filling, but what filling was in there was very good! Again, this is all relative to local spots. My wife had the Pho and it was overall disappointing, according to her. I'd skip that if you come here (especially since it's not a sit-down establishment) and go to the Pho spots in DOT.

Drinks: We both got the Viet iced coffees (with condensed milk) and they were okay. Not bad, but not great either. I'd probably skip this too next time.

Service: Workers were all very nice and accommodating within their menu, especially since their coffee is premade.

I'll return here for the banh mi whenever I'm in the area, but probably without the wife since she can't do gluten and the Pho...

Went to the soft opening under the new management and menu. I love what Team Phinista did with the place. We've been ordering from Phinista since their inception and are happy to support them. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, they have delivered free drinks to front-line/ first-responders. We were a group so we sampled 3 different types of drinks, 2 types of banhmi and the spring rolls. Prices were reasonable and the location had ample street parking. Phinista drinks are worth it alone! Their flavor combinations are unique compared to other bubble tea spots. I was very impressed by the bread they used for the banh mi. Many places aren't able to get the right texture of the crispy but airy bread unique to banh mi. The fillings were classic and delicious. Overall, definitely going to make another visit and look forward to what they are going to do as...