Julie's Vietnamese Portland
In the middle of the 5th/Oak/Stark pod, is a nondescript trailer which I wouldn’t have known the name of, save for the sign board on the sidewalk. For me, this place would be an odd choice for my noontime repast, but Mrs. BDB and I had out of town guests, and we were trying desperately to all order from one stand, to facilitate payment.
I went with a Bahn Mi. For those of you not familiar with this, it’s basically the Vietnamese version of a sub/hoagie/grinder/poboy, featuring pickled vegetables, a couple (at least) kinds of pork, on a French baguette. The French influence in the Vietnamese culture, came from their 100 year adventure in Vietnam, (prior to our little adventure). A lot of the French culture, language, cuisine, stayed behind, and is now filtering its way through the US, thanks to the large number of emigres.
The Banh Mi is getting a lot of publicity lately, in particular, due to the success some purveyors from Los Angeles, the Nom Nom truck, are having on the “Great American Food Truck Race” on one of the food networks. Check them out, if you are in L.A, because the servers are certainly as delicious as the sandwiches!
Julie’s banh mi didn’t precisely follow the traditional recipe, she had substituted some vegetables and only had a couple kinds of pork, but the sandwich was fresh, the bread great, and it packed a wallop from some large jalapeno slices (which normally I would eschew).
A bargain on the block at five bucks.
Julie's Vietnamese Food CartPortland Banh Mi
Portland Banh Mi