Saturday, April 27, 2013

Báhn mì, French-Vietnamese sandwiches

It was time I tried a new place again, so today, seeing the real April weather we had, I woke up with the intention of putting an end to that situation. Although I already knew where I wanted to go, I took out my new-places-to-try list (which in my case is a Google map with lots of small stars) and made sure I got the right address: the Babanbè, in the central district of Mitte. I've read that the Babanbè served "French-Vietnamese sandwiches" and I was very curious.

Ready to go!

It was in a Vietnamese restaurant, long time ago, that I learned that Vietnam had been a French colony (yeah, shame on my!). What made me curious was the interesting coffee list menu, which I found unusual for an Asian restaurant, so I started to dig into it and learned that due to that colonization, Vietnamese cuisine has now many reminiscences of French cuisine, like coffee, bakery and baguette sandwiches, better known as báhn mì.


After meticulously inspecting the chalkboard with the menu, I asked the girl behind the bar for the special sandwich and, without hesitation, she recommended me the BBQ PULLED PORK báhn mì. The pork sandwich it is, then!
The BBQ pulled pork stripes were just deliciously intense. Combined with chili peppers, pickled carrots and daikon, lots of cilantro, and the perfect amount of chili and lime mayonnaise it just made the perfect sandwich.



It had been a long time since I last tried something that would surprise me, so different in taste. I believe the Babanbè is the first place to serve Vietnamese báhn mì sandwiches in Berlin. So, if you happen to be in the area and want to try them, I recommend you order your sandwich with a lemongrass iced tea and finish with a Vietnamese coffee. I will definitely come back to try other tastes!

Babanbè, Tucholskystr. 18-20, 10117 Berlin-Mitte (map)