PrintGolden Vietnam Bakery: Queens's First Bánh Mì Specialist
[Photos: Joe DiStefano]
Queens offers every kind of Asian food: Indian, Indonesian, Korean, Thai, and a plethora of regional Chinese. The void in this wonderland of ethnic eats has always been the bánh mì, or Vietnamese sandwich. This is because until last week there were no delis, or jewelry store-delis specializing in Vietnamese sandwiches. Sure, a few restaurants offer a serviceable version, notably Phở Bắc in Elmhurst, but for the most part bánh mì in Queens are little more than ham sandwiches with a Vietnamese accent.
Enter Golden Vietnam Bakery. I almost fell over when I encountered what is surely Queens's first bánh mì specialist on the first floor of Flushing's Golden Shopping Mall. I rubbed my eyes in disbelief at the guy sitting at the counter happily eating a Vietnamese sandwich.
Not only does Golden Vietnam serve four kinds of bánh mì, there are several types of phở.
At top is Golden Vietnam's take on what's typically called a special or #1 ($3.75) elsewhere. Perfectly toasted bread is stuffed with roast pork, ham, pork liver pâté, pork roll, and the standard accoutrements of cucumber, pickled carrot and daikon, and cilantro. First time around it was tasty, but not yet firing on all cylinders. There was no Asian mayo and the crumbled pork was a tad wet.
I advised the manager to take a trip into Manhattan and buy some Vietnamese sandwiches and reverse engineer them. The second time around there was a thin coating of Asian mayo and the crumbled pork was nicely crisped with little brown bits. Ordered spicy, it came with some bright green jalapeños that didn't quite provide enough heat. This was easily remedied by pouring a slurry of fish sauce and Sriracha directly into the Hanoi hoagie.
Is Golden Vietnam's #4, or short rib bánh mì ($5.50) traditional? Hard to care, when it's packed with delicious bits of braised beef with just a hint of anise. It was inspired by kalbi tang, or Korean short rib soup.
Short ribs make another appearance in the #10 ($6), a bowl of phở teeming with meaty chunks. Some of the pieces were a bit tough and could have been cooked a little longer, but I'm sure this will improve with time.
It is possible to pick up the hefty short ribs with chopsticks, but sometimes it's best to use your hands. (For the record, this hunk of beef was cooked perfectly.)
Golden Vietnam also sells two other sandwiches that I've yet to try: chicken ($4.25) and a fish ($5.50). Where most other bánh mì joints use the lowly sardine, these guys are using eel. Now, that's what I call a bánh mì specialist.
Golden Vietnam Bakery
Stall D1, D2 (upper level)
Golden Shopping Mall
41-28 Main St, Flushing NY 11355 (map)
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9 Comments:
pho bang restaurant serves banh mi sandwiches.
gargupie at 12:44PM on 11/04/09
Joe, you just made my day. Like yourself I was wondering why the hell we didn't have good banh mi in the nexus of Asian food. I know what I'm having Friday night for dinner now.
@gargupie Pho Bang's banh mi are "serviceable" but really do not hold a candle to a place that specializes in these awesome sandwiches.
papanugget at 1:03PM on 11/04/09
It was only a matter of time before this happened. SCORE! :D
Ambitous at 1:55PM on 11/04/09
"Hanoi hoagie"? That is a genius coinage. I'm totally ganking it.
klg19 at 2:49PM on 11/04/09
@klg19: Gank away just PayPal me $1 for every usage!
Joe DiStefano at 5:14PM on 11/04/09
You are absolutely right, there was no GOOD BANH MI place in Queens, how lucky am I that my office is right in Flushing. I will be having a #1 for lunch tomorrow. Come to think of it the there aren't many good ones in Chinatown anymore either.
Oh no, I am salivating already
scoutiepie at 12:22AM on 11/05/09
OK went looking for the place today took me a little while. To my surprise they were speaking FooChownese, more to my surprise the Banh Mi was pretty darn good. Way better than all the ones from the nearby Vietnamese restaurants. Bread was just toasted enough (don't like it when it is too hard) The meats were tasty and well layered with the pickled stuff. Great pick, I will definitely go back there. The PHO looked good too. Now I don't have to ask friends from Brooklyn to bring Banh Mi to me from 8th Avenue
scoutiepie at 8:55PM on 11/05/09
@scoutiepie: So it's Fujianese-run...very interesting. It was hard to find?
Joe DiStefano at 10:59PM on 11/05/09
Had this last night. It was easy to find as it was the first or second stall when you walk in. I had the #1 to go. The sandwich was in a word, disappointing. There was a bit too much of the pickled veggies and the meat wasn't as flavorful as I would have liked. I used to live in Sunset Park around the corner from Ba Xuyen so their sandwiches are the high watermark by which I judge every other banh mi. Though serviceable I'm probably not going to be a regular at Golden Vietnam. :(
papanugget at 8:24AM on 11/07/09