Banh Mi Eatery — Restaurant in Lafayette

Went for dinner and ordered 2 teas, 2 starters and a "classic" sandwich for $30. The guy at the front wasn't particularly helpful -- I asked what was in one of the drinks and he said that somebody else made it and he didn't know -- but that's whatever.

So we sat down and after about 5-6 minutes, the starters arrived. The Crispy Tofu was quite bland -- but I've never had Crispy Tofu before, so maybe that's how it is. It came garnished with peanuts and green onions and had a soy-based dipping sauce that was actually pretty good. The (fried) dumplings were fairly bland, too.

5 or so minutes after the starters came out, the sandwich arrived. The bread was really nice and I loved the pickled veggies, jalapenos and cilantro. I wasn't overly impressed with the lunchmeat-style ham, but overall, it was tasty. If I had it to do again, I'd probably order the pork.

What you may notice though, if you've tracked along this far, is that we ordered 2 teas. Typically, I'd expect that the drinks would be the first thing to arrive... but no. I asked about them when the sandwich arrived and the server said he'd check. Then, about 5 minutes after all the food was gone, I asked about them again and the same guy said somebody else was making them and it would be 2 minutes. About 7 minutes after that -- after he'd taken one order and prepped at least 2 other takeout orders -- the first tea finally arrived and he said he was going to go see if the second one had been started. A few minutes later, that one was made and set on the front counter -- presumably by the person making them -- where it sat until I asked about it a third time.

Now, my tea was pretty good, but not worth the ~30 minute wait. And maybe it was an off night, but if we go back, it'll only...

This review is mostly for the banh mi, because that was the only item I ordered personally, but I have to comment on the nuoc cham because I tried some! Got the classic /dac biet combo banh mi. I didn't try the meats individually (should have!), but I liked the savoriness and how they tasted. Pickled carrots and radish were a little on the sweet side, but I liked how they were cut (not too thick nor thin), liked how they gave a generous portion of the pickles, and that they used English cucumbers for an actual crunch, and that jalapenos were not omitted! I really enjoyed the shattering and flaky crust on the bread, and that it wasn't TOO crusty or hard to cut the soft palette or to be semi-compressed (in order to eat all components in one bite). My friend got the fried tofu, which she loved, but I tried some of her nuoc cham with some of the tomatoes/cucumbers that came with it, and encouraged her to try some on her rice! She didn't like the nuoc cham, and I was disappointed that it was overwhelmingly fishy and sweet, almost like it was missing the lime juice to balance it out, because I have fond memories of almost drowning my broken rice in nuoc cham. Most definitely will be back for the banh mi, but would wait to order any rice dish because of the...

I was really excited to try this place since Banh Mi is definitely one of my top five favorite foods (and unless you hate spicy food or have the nasty cilantro gene [or don’t eat pork for any reason, although I’m sure they have at least a chicken version if not a vegetarian version, which is pretty rare since fish sauce is basically a required ingredient] I guarantee you’ll love it too. I was a bit apprehensive when I went to pick it up and person I assume was the owner or manager was a white guy (sorry I guess, white guys, but we’re not exactly who you want to see behind the counter at a non-EuroAmericam restaurant) but I was definitely not disappointed at all. Of course I didn’t expect it to live up to what I was used to getting in Little Saigon when I lived I Seattle (sorry if that’s not the right term for it anymore or ever was, that’s just the only name I knew it as but please correct me if I’m wrong) but it sure hit the spot. I wanted to try the Vietnamese yogurt, which I ordered but didn’t receive disappointingly, but they did issue a refund before I even noticed it wasn’t there so that’s a point in their favor. Parking isn’t the best but I hate parking so I pretty much always think that, I’m sure you’ll be fine....