Tonight, my dad was in the city to visit my brother and I, and he took us out for Vietnamese food in my neighborhood. I love Vietnamese food. I could live on Pho and summer rolls for the rest of my life, true story, so I was excited to find this cute looking Vietnamese place only a short walk from my new apartment. I was even more excited by the fact that the prices were unbelievably reasonable.
We split some vegetarian summer rolls. These were pretty standard fare, to be honest. They were awesome, as summer rolls always are, but there was nothing mind-blowingly special about them. They included mint, vermicelli noodles, and fried tofu, with a peanut-based dipping sauce.
I had the seafood pho as my main meal. This is my standard order in any Vietnamese restaurant, and this one was nice. The broth was well-prepared, although blander than a recent pho that I enjoyed in Philadelphia, and I got a giant, incredibly satisfying bowl filled with noodles, shrimp, vegetables, fish balls, crab sticks and squid for $9. I couldn't even finish the whole bowl.
I have to admit, though, that my order was not the star of the meal. My brother, Patrick, definitely won that competition. Patrick, a recently converted vegetarian, went for the tofu banh mi. For those of you unfamiliar with Vietnamese food, banh mi is sort of like a Vietnamese po boy. Apparently, the word itself in Vietnamese is simply the word for bread, but when you see it on a restaurant menu it usually refers to a specific type of stuffed sandwich on a baguette. Most traditionally, this would include all kinds of meat in sauce, with herbs, maybe with pickled carrots, and that version is incredibly delicious. Patrick's tofu version, however, was anything but a disappointment. The sandwich was gigantic, and absolutely exploding with flavor. The bread was crusty, with a great crunch, but soft and light on the inside. The tofu was covered in a sort of sweet sauce, with just a tiny bit of a kick (if I had been lucky enough to order it, I would have put some garlic chili on to spice it up). I want to go back and eat it again and again just to figure out what is in that sauce, because it was incredible. It also had lettuce, tons of cilantro and, of course, tofu. Also, and this may or may not be the best part, this gigantic sandwich, which I believe was sent directly from the heavens, retails at Sao Mai for only SIX DOLLARS. That's stupid cheap. According to the menu, it is only served from 11-5, but Patrick ordered it when we met for dinner at 7:30. I'd say you're taking your chances ordering it after 5, but definitely give it a go.
If you're in NYC, Sao Mai is at 203 1st Ave between 11th and 12th streets, next to a now-defunct Philippino restaurant (too bad!). I highly recommend it, particularly for the sandwich!
Enjoy!
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