Top 5 drool-worthy Bánh Mì shops in Saigon.

Address: 125 Tôn Đản, phường 14, Quận 4

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The step by step guide to finding a (pretty) great Bánh Mì in Saigon.

The ubiquitous Banh Mi is both unpretentious and scrumptious. The baguette style bread and liver pate, is the little evidence remaining of french influence on Vietnamese cuisine. Yet it is embraced by everyone, for a mere 15000VND you can get a fully loaded Bánh Mì with all the trimmings and toppings, which will fill you up properly until dinner time.

The simple truth however: The only place with jaw droppingly good Banh Mi is undoubtedly Hội An. If you really want a great Banh mi go there, and it doesn’t need a “ultimate Banh Mi guide”. Any place will do, whether it’s the tourist trap “banh mi queen” or the place next door selling out of street stand with no one in line. The bread is buttery and fresh, the pate is sumptuous, and the unidentifiable gravy sauce which coats the pickled veggies and meat slices is phenomenal. Danang, and Dalat also boast great Banh mi, our theory is that these places bake their own bread and pate, whereas HCMC Banh Mi sellers buy it wholesale, and all the Baguettes taste the same.

“The simple truth however: The only place with jaw droppingly good Banh Mi is undoubtedly Hội An.”

So Here is your self guided tour of the best options for Ho Chi Minh City, where finding a Banh Mi close to being as good as Hội An is a near impossibility. However here is our advice and a couple decent options:

Step one, take a good hard look at the PATE. There are two types of Pate used by these bread stands around the city, home made and industrial. Obviously the home-made is leaps and bounds better, and the industrial should be avoided at all costs.

Step two, hope that the Bread is fresh. If it has a smooth crunchy looking exterior, its probably fresh enough, but the rest is up to you, it is quite a gamble to find the right bread.

Fresh bread and home-made Pa Te are the essentials in the building blocks of the Best Bánh Mì, after this you can ask for “thit” which will be an assortment of cold pork meats. Or Ốp La, which will be fried eggs, and all come with an assortment of veggies, including pickled radish and carrots as well as a garnishing layer of cilantro adorning the center, with a healthy dose of soy sauce, and you got yourself one of the world best sandwiches.

How to Identify the right and wrong Pate?

Home-made, is simply darker in color and usually sits in a metal bowl. Sometimes its a bit crumbly, sometimes its mushy. But the trick here is the dark color, which comes from that of the liver, which it is supposed to be made of. And this is the closest thing in taste to the original french Pate.

Industrial, is pink in color, and usually comes from a green plastic package. It tastes dry and unpleasant.

Streatery’s recommendations for the the best of Saigonese Banh Mi:

1. Bánh Mì Út Kiêm – Bình Thạnh

🕞 7:00-21:00 | 📍 76 QL13, Phường 26, Bình Thạnh ↵(accross from Morning star apartments)

This place is out of the way on a horribly busy highway, but well worth the visit. It’s one of the only places that serves fresh bread baked in-house, home-made Pa Te and the eggs (if you order Banh Mi Ốp La) are not overcooked, and you have the yoke blend nicely with the rest of the ingredients. DISCLAIMER: the quality of the Banh Mi as a whole depends on which member of the family is serving you. The teenage boys tend to be the worst (shocking, I know). The young girl in her 20s is the master, if you can order from her the eggs will cooked just right, with just the right amount of pate, coriander and pickled veggies.

Our favorite two are:

Bánh Mì Thit – Pork

Bánh Mì Ốp La – Fried eggs

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2. Banh mi lan mi – District 4

🕞 12:00 – 9pm | 📍 125 Tôn Đản, phường 14, Quận 4

These are the biggest most packed Vietnamese Sandwhiches that Dong can buy. They also fit the previous requirements in terms of Fresh Bread and PaTe. Comes in two sizes: regular and large. The large one can feed two people easily.

We recommend the Dac Biet, house special. Comes with an assortment of meats, including pork and chicken floss. Although you can also do the usual, and point at the meat you desire and they will happily put it together for you.

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3. Banh Mi Pa tê.

🕞 After 16:00 ( very irregular ) | 📍 Phan Văn Hân, Bình Thạnh (no official address so click on the address for an approximate pin)

Speaking of Pate, this street stand offers Pate as their specialty. Order the Banh Mi Pa tê and watch them scoop this homemade deliciousness from their massive bowl, containing a mountain of the good stuff. They only have the Pa Te sandwich, it comes with the usual trimmings and its the best in town.

RELATED: Try Streatery’s favorite Goat BBQ & Hot Pot, HERE.

4. Banh Mi 362, a more modern Banh Mi

🕞 6:30 – 20:00 | 📍 27 Mạc Đĩnh Chi, Đa Kao, Q 1 (our favorite)

We know it doesn’t fit with the rest of Streatery’s content to write about a chain. But, the the fact is Banh Mi 362 is the absolute winner when it comes to two important Specifications: Bread and consistency. Rain or shine, day or night, Banh Mi 362 churns out consistently great Vietnamese Sandwiches, and you can always count on their bread being fresh and the fillings tasty. Our three favorite Sandwiches are:

• Omelette – 37K
• Thịt nướng – Grilled Pork Rissoles – 41K

For a full list of their locations and menu click HERE to access their website.

5. Bánh Mì Chả Cá Nha Trang, the best breakfast Banh Mi

🕞 6:30 – 20:00 | 📍12 Nguyễn Thị Minh Khai, P. Đa Kao, Q1 🔗

The name of this street stand implies that their specialty is the Nha Trang style fish cake Bánh Mì . However, we come for the Bánh Mì Ốp La ( fried eggs) version which is one of the absolute best we have ever had. Nha Trang style Bánh Mì  is known for their own special fish sauce, which has a syrup-like texture and spends the day soaking up the flavors of peppers and garlic. The fried eggs are coupled beautifully with the pickled garlic, the special sauce, crunchy cucumbers and the usual pickled carrots and radish slices.

Got a favorite that deserves to be on this list? Comment below or shoot us an email at info@103.56.162.99

For more phở-nomenal eats, head to our EATS section.