D's Banh Mi — Restaurant in Minneapolis

D’s has so much potential, but it unfortunately fell slightly short of my high expectations. After driving by this spot almost every day for the past couple of years, I was so excited to see that it had finally opened. My husband and I decided to try it out this evening, and we were bursting with excitement.

So many elements are there— cute neighborhood storefront with an adorable patio, friendly and relatively quick service, delightful curry sauce, peanut sauce that packs a punch, tofu pressed to perfection, expertly rolled spring rolls, and yummy mock duck.

However, some things just weren’t up to par. The tofu was undersalted. The bread was tough and kind of dry. The banh mi didn’t have great structural integrity and started falling apart midway through the sandwich. The veggies needed to be pickled. The Thai tea came in a can and wasn’t very cold.

Overall, it was a net positive experience, but when you’re comparing it to the gold standard of Lu’s, it’s just hard to compare. We know they’re just getting started, so we’ll try D’s again in a few months to see if they’ve worked out some of the quirks. We’re rooting...

I decided to take a detour and try a new bahn mi place and not my usual spot. Nice little spot with a couple tables for outdoor seating. When I got there around 3, some of the items on the menu were crossed off, but I’m there for bahn mi and they had what I wanted. I order a grilled steak and xa xiu(pork). I took it home to eat as I live a bit far. First look at the bahn mi, it is different from other bahn mi. The cucumber is a thin slice flat cucumber, green onion and cilantro were mince which I liked and there were no jalapeño, instead there is pickled pepper. I think I also tasted mint in one of my bahn mi. As far as taste, the daikon and carrot didn’t really have a pickle taste to it. Both meat were flavorful and I liked it. I didn’t taste any pâté, maybe the juice from the meat on both bahn mi seems have soaked onto the bread and overpower the pâté especially the grilled steak. Overall bahn mi is good, it is different from the others and worth a try, but it is a bit...

Went for lunch today, there was 1 person in front of me and the process took less then 5 minutes to get my food. Overall the Xa Xui is a good banh mi, along the lines of Lu's. The quality of the bread is very good as well! Peppers are quite spicy. The problem, though is the price point compared to Lu's for the size of the sandwich. The sandwich is not big enough to justify the price of $15.26 after tax. If they can figure out how to make the prices or sizes more comparable to other banh mi in the twin cities, they will be well worth of returning to, otherwise this is a good and comparable sandwich that is overpriced. I wish them luck though, they seem...