Sunday Sandwiches: Baguette Bros

**** Baguette Bros has closed

Baguette Bros soft opened to a bit of hype a couple of weeks ago. Since it was fairly close to work, I managed to visit a couple of times.

Located in the same strip mall as China Max, Xi'an Kitchen, et al, the menu features twists on Banh Mi, chickens wings, versions VN coffee and drinks, and some Craft Beer (too IPA heavy - not my favorite match for Banh Mi). For some reason this seems to be a Food Truck menu in a brick and mortar shop......after all the NRA (no, not that NRA - the National Restaurant Association) says that the latest trend is from Food Truck to Brick and Mortar.

I like the nice, wide open set-up, very much the norm in places that want to attract the demographic that would want "Fusion Vietnamese Sandwiches"

I decided to go straight for the coronary artery and went with the Belly Flop ($8). The sandwich took a while, which didn't bother me. First this is the soft opening period and systems are still being put in place. Second, it means that my sandwich is being prepped fresh.

As the name indicates, this is a pork belly based Banh Mi. First off, the bread is standard issue. Probably from Le Chef. Because of how "stuffed" the sandwich is, it didn't hold up too on the short 10 minute trip back to the office, the bread had gotten gummy and for some reason, even though it was toasted, wasn't crusty enough.

The amount of pork belly was quite generous and along with the "sweet chili sauce", which seemed like a hoisin based sauce seemed the biggest deviation on what you'd consider something other than a super-stuffed banh mi. The classic cucumber, pickled veggies, and cilantro were nicely done. I loved the jalapenos which helped to cut the sweetness of the sauce.

One complaint would be the belly skin, which, if not fried properly is like eating plastic.....a rather unpleasant surprise.

Things come bundled with Shrimp Chips.

I thought my sandwich was pretty good so a couple of days later I returned with Calvin. I just can't put away food like I used to so having Calvin along would mean we could try a variety of items. Plus, MrC, who is originally from the SGV, his wife from Little Saigon, has had his share of Banh Mi.

My favorite sandwich of the three I had was the "Broguette" ($6). Loved the pate in this, wish they had put jalapenos on it and gone a bit easier on the Maggi, or whatever sauce they used as it was on the salty side. The head cheese was really mild but added texture, as did the Cha Lua, and the bread did well minus the travel time to my desk. As a whole, this was pretty much all about the pate.

We also ordered the "Grasshogger" ($6) - basically a Lemongrass Pork Banh Mi.

Calvin and I had the same reaction upon taking a bite of this; "whoa....too much salt...too much lemongrass". It needed something to balance out the flavors. The pork was actually fairly moist.

There was one other item I wanted to try. The Fish Sauce Chicken Wings.

Calvin liked the rather large sized wings, whereas I'm more about skin to meat ratio. We both agreed that the wings were fried perfectly, but that there was too much fish sauce in this...again, making it a bit too salty. The garlic was good, not too bitter, but this had me missing Que Huong.

I was rather pleased with what BB offered (i.e. the menu), though the execution and flavors were not quite there. I am looking forward to visiting again after the Grand Opening period. Nice folks, service a bit slow, but that's to be expected as they get their systems down.

So perhaps it's worth a visit from you.....though I think they'll be pretty busy now that Eater has declared them one of the 5 new restaurants to visit.

Baguette Bros
4698 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Please check out Kirbie's post as well!

Comments

[kat]

Hope they can balance out the salt.

[Soo @ hungryones]

Mmm... I love shrimp chips but not a fan of fish sauce on my wings. Is there enough seasoning on the wings to eat them without sauce?

[Faye]

I saw them weeks ago and thought the interior looked great. I like the 'plastic' description of terribly fried pork skin. That's the word I was looking for when I had some bad lechon recently. I can't remember the prices of the wings - were they on par for what was ordered?

[Kirk]

I do too Kat!

If I recall they do Honey Sriracha, Fish Sauce, and Lemon Pepper Wings. I think these nice folks would just make it plain with garlic if you wanted Soo.

Hi Faye - If I recall the wings were like $7?

[Junichi]

My roommate tried them out last week and loved it. Need to stop by for a visit.

[John M. Dowd]

Went there last night with 3 16 year old boys who just played 9 holes of walking golf. They had not eaten since lunch, it was 5:15 so they were starved but then again they are perpetually starved. We got roasted pork (3), pork belly, chicken w/peanut sauce, bulgogi Banh Mi's and their version of carne asada fries - Bulgogi fries with a friend egg over it.. The boys really liked them and 2 had never had a Bahn Mi. We took 3 half sandwiches home. The fusion flavors made for an interesting twist, but nothing that so different and good that made me think I had to go back just for that taste.

My take is that they were smaller, less meat and bit more expensive than the traditional places we go to. But, our usual places are not hip, the service staff not so good looking and no craft beer. So, next time I'll take them to Cali Baguette or if we are going to pay the same price I'll got to Pho La Jolla which I think has a better over $6 sandwich and make underrated Bahn Mi. I did ask them and they denied having anything to do with the kitchen fire at Kay's...

[Kirbie]

Oh I wish I had a chance to read your post before my visit! I was generously pleased with how things were when I visited, though of course there were some soft opening kinks. We were so tempted to go to Que Huong after for a wing comparison.

[Kirk]

Check them out Junichi.

Hi John - I thought there was quite a bit more meat than what is typically served in a more traditional Banh Mi; like, at say, Cali Express, which is my go to. I'm about proportion, flavors, and bread. I do hesitate in spending $6 for a banh mi, but wanted to see what the buzz was about. Since this was during the soft opening; hopefully things will get straightened out. I've never been impressed with Pho La Jolla though..... If you like them; I believe the owner's sons run Spotted Cow in the Zion Market Food Court. For some reason, I never took to the bread that K's put out, even though it was made in house.

Hi Kirbie - Well geeez....great minds think/post alike again, huh? I don't know how many times that has happened over the years!

[Denver]

Great place so far. Yeah seems like they are working out the kinks. The first time I went was about a week ago. It wasn't crowded at all but it seemed like what was about a 20 minute wait for a bulgogi bahn mi and cookie butter coffee.

The most recent visit on Sunday, the food came out pretty quick. The satay chicken and pork belly fries were delish. I do like the bread there better than K's. I like the bread with a little chew rather than overly crusty. Can't wait to try the wings

[Kirk]

I tend to think of the bread at K's as being mealy, Denver. It's basically standard issue baguette here in my opinion. Hope they do well!