First there was Hanco’s, then Henry’s, and now there’s Home, the newest banh mi shop in Park Slope. Home opened in the space formerly occupied by Earth Tonez, and it’s been open for about two months. I visited on a chilly winter night a couple of weeks ago. Home makes sandwiches in the mold of those two other places, but not nearly as well crafted. My tofu sandwich, though a bit cheaper than even Henry’s, had way too much mayonnaise, not enough spice, and some limp-looking cilantro. If you’re down on 5th Avenue and you just have to have a Vietnamese sandwich it’ll do in a pinch, but I’d stick with the two places on 7th Avenue.

Home — 349 5th Ave, Brooklyn

When we told our friend Anh that we wanted to get some banh mi, she suggested her favorite place in all of NYC: Ba Xuyen, in Borough Park. We met up with her and two of her friends for lunch there last week. They have (among other things) eight different banh mi on the menu, but none of them are vegetarian. They were more than willing to make one for me though, and they only charged me $2.25 for it.

I’m used to the vegetarian sandiwches at Hanco’s or Nicky’s which have some kind of filling — tofu or portobello mushrooms — that getting this sandwich was kind of a shock. It was just the pickled vegetables with a handful of cilantro and sauce. It wasn’t bad, but not my kind of banh mi. Much better was the excellent jackfruit shake I got along with it.

Ba Xuyen — 4222 8th Ave, Brooklyn

Ever since Hanco’s opened their 7th Avenue branch, I’ve been eating their tofu banh mi at least once a week. Then a few weeks ago I was at the Farmer’s Market and spotted a beautiful daikon radish and an idea began to form in my head. Why not make my own banh mi? I grabbed a daikon, some carrots, a few demi-baguettes, a sprig of cilantro, and some eggplants (among other things) and began to plan.

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What do I know about Baltimore? The Wire? Even when Anthony Bourdain went to Baltimore for his “Rust Belt” show he did it around The Wire. It seems that The Wire is more famous than the city and from the one episode I saw of The Wire I should be really careful when I go. Baltimore has always been a city that I pass by on my way to somewhere else. Springfield, DC, Annapolis…and etc. Visiting Baltimore has never crossed my mind before until my ex-boss asked me to be her wedding photographer. I was honored when she asked me and then I got excited because I get to be out of town for a weekend. Okay I may have exaggerated a bit about only knowing Baltimore from The Wire, there’s also Ace of Cakes!

It’s so weird traveling by yourself. What do you do? I had spent a lot of time in the hotel room with the free HBO. Didn’t really do a lot of sightseeing nor did I venture out too far from the hotel. It helped that the hotel was RIGHT AT the Inner Harbor, tons of museums and shops for mostly tourists. I arrived at Baltimore around 8pm on a drizzling Friday night. After checking into the hotel, half of me just wanted to crash into bed while my other half wanted to go out. Damit it was only 8:45pm. I was invited by my ex-boss to go have drinks with them and their friends. I’m actually kind of shy and am always afraid of being quiet in front of people, especially people I don’t know. Took me 15mins to debate about it but finally decided to go. It was 9pm on a Friday night and I was in another city. I can’t be a frakkin’ loner. I went out and got a cab.
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I’m happy to report from personal experience that the Park Slope branch of Hanco’s is now open for business. At $7, the sandwiches are a bit more expensive than they should be, but the tofu sandwich is amazing as always. And the spicy version is as outrageously spicy as it should be. At $4 the small bubble tea was a little disappointing, but that’s not what you go to a banh mi shop for anyway, is it? They were doing a brisk lunch business while I was there, and I know I’ll be back, because where else in Park Slope are you going to get a Vietnamese sandwich?

Hanco’s Park Slope — 350 7th Ave, Brooklyn

I had heard rumors that a Vietnamese sandwich shop was coming to the former Tea Lounge space at 7th Ave and 10th St. I’m happy to see that the rumors are true. I work a mere four blocks from here — my lunch hour is about to get a whole lot better.