Banh Mi at Ba Le Sandwich Shop
Posted on 04/01/2011
Address: 633 Main St, Vancouver, BC
If you have never heard of a Vietnamese sandwich, head on over to Ba Le Sandwich Shop over in Chinatown for a cheap & good Asian-filled goodness inside a French-style baguette.
Across Main Street from the bulk of Chinatown sits Ba Le Sandwich Shop. #121 - 633 Main Street. There is a small parking lot next door where I usually park and eat my sandwiches.
The Spartan interior belies the sole purpose of Ba Le... sell sandwiches, sandwiches and more sandwiches. Or as the Vietnamese call them Banh Mi.
The menu lists quite a few varieties of banh mi, but I usually only order the shredded chicken and shredded pork sandwiches. For only $3.00, banh mi is probably the best value-for-money when it comes to lunchtime eating in Vancouver.
The front counter always has a nice stock of Vietnamese sandwich meat and small packets of delicious (but spicy!) pickled ham mixed with green bean vermicelli, stuffed with garlic cloves and chiles. Sounds different? They are apparently an ethnic Vietnamese snack taken with beer.
The husband and wife team are usually always seen working together, except for today. Their sandwich station is so efficient. The baguette is put into the oven for a minute to warm up while the condiments are prepared, or other sandwiches are finished for the never-ending trickle of customers. I sometimes see whole boxes of these delicious sandwiches being picked up by some office staffer. Good idea for an office lunch.
Shredded Chicken Sandwich $3.00. This deli treat is stuffed with chile-laden meat (you can request how many chiles you want put in), onions, pickled carrot, cilantro and the delicious sandwich spread.
Shredded Pork Sandwich $3.00. The same sandwich but with shredded pork. The pork is very curious to me as it is actually 'springy'. Meaning if you pull on a piece of pork it stretches elastically. I have no idea how they make this type of meat, but it tastes good as well as being a piece of work one ponders at... Overall a good, quick & cheap meal I go for at least several times a month.
Long live Ba Le!