Revisits - Avian Sandwiches and Paris Sandwiches

Well, I'm going thru a bit of sticker shock.....I recently paid $23 for a bowl of ramen, yikes! And then I dined at a kind of hipster sushi place for lunch and the menu prices really got my attention; though I did eventually get the sashimi lunch combo which was priced at......yep $23, same as the ramen? What is going on here?

To calm down, I decided to get a Banh Mi wondering what prices were going to be like. Here's what I found.

Avian Sandwiches:

During my shopping rounds I wanted some breakfast and strangely enough there's a real shortage of places that open early in the Kearny Mesa area, though I understand that Banh Mi Express now opens at 8am. Still, it had been a while since I last visited Avian Sandwiches (remember when they were just a water and fro-yo shop?) I stopped by on my way to Nijiya which opens at 9, getting there around 845 on a Saturday.

There seems to be several groups of "coffee old-timers" who hang out in this strip mall; the group who hang in front of Avian and those who do Pho Hoa Huong. Anyway, the interior of the shop still seems packed to the gills with snacks, lottery stuffs, water, and various knick-knacks.

I decided on the Banh Mi Nem Nuong ($7.95). I believe this has gone up $1 since my last visit. I found a corner to hide in while I waited for my sandwich which was ready quite quickly.

Once at home, I opened up my sandwich.

This seemed fairly hefty.

Splitting the halves, I was shocked at the amount of pickled veggies!

Also, the position of the nem nuong...perhaps my mouth isn't big enough, but it was impossible to get everything in one bite at the middle of the sandwich, you'd get the pickled veggies and the really potent jalapeno, but no pork. Things got better as you worked your way to the ends. Glad to actually have cucumber in my banh mi which seems to be a rarity these days. 

The bread was on the dry and crusty side, but better than what I'd had last time. Too many stems from the cilantro, I prefer mostly leaves. A bit heavy handed on the aioli, but at least it was spread evenly and helped when getting a mouth of pickled veggies, cucumber, and jalapeno. The nem nuong seemed to have been seared, enhancing the sweet-porkiness.

To me a certain proportion of protein to veggies to bread is important and this was a bit off.

Avian Sandwiches & Fresh Drinking Water
6937 Linda Vista Rd.
San Diego, CA 92111
Current Hours:
Daily 8am - 7pm

This sandwich had me kind of wondering what was going on in terms of banh mi, so I decided to head on over to one of my newer favorites, Paris Sandwiches, which just opened in Mira Mesa a little over a year ago. So, I decided to head on over and grab a Banh Mi Nem Nuong here as well.

Paris Sandwiches:

Like Avian, there are a bunch of guys hanging out on the tables to the side of the shop.

The Banh Mi Nem Nuong is now $7.05, it was $6.75 last July. I walked up to the counter and placed my order, then retreated to the counter to wait.

On a funny note, the gal who brought the sandwich to the counter called out my number....in Vietnamese! After trying a couple of times, she called out "39", I cracked up and walked on over to pick my sandwich up. She also had a nice laugh as well. As did the woman standing next to me, who laughingly said; "no, you don't look Vietnamese!"

I know where the bread is baked, thus know what to expect in that category.

The bread this time around was really light and crackly....like so flakey it exploded upon my first bite! I actually found "baguette shrapnel" in the pocket of my shirt later that evening!

This sandwich was more balanced in terms of ingredients, though I missed the cucumber and the jalapeno was not nearly as hot as Avian's version. It was also put together so you could get all of the ingredients in each bite,

I did like the nem nuong from Avian better and the cucumber, but in terms of bread and proportion of ingredients, I though Paris won out.

Paris Sandwiches
10606 Camino Ruiz
San Diego, CA 92126
Current Hours:
Mon - Fri  730am - 630pm
Saturday   730am - 6pm
Closed on Sundays

This was fun little comparison. I should do them a bit more often. This brought back some fond memories if doing a Mira Mesa banh mi comparison over a decade ago and that when I did my very first Banh Mi post back in 2005, the Banh Mi Thit Nuong cost $2.50! Yikes.....

Comments

[Dereck]

If I join those old timers around avian while waiting for my sandwich, do I have to smoke, or just go second hand until I'm ready to eat?

[TFD]

Remember it used to be $1.75. I remember bus fair was also $1.75 and I bought a banh mi instead of taking a bus home. haha.

[kat]

wow $23!!

[Junichi]

I had ramen at Momofuku in Las Vegas last month. That was $21 and I thought that was excessive. $23 in San Diego? Yikes! I had a grilled pork at K Sandwiches last week. It was $7.55 over there. I miss the days of $2.50 banh mi's and the buy 2 get 1 free deals.

[Kenneth]

I'm still content with the $1.50 kosher dog and soda at Costco! Yeah, I'm old and a cheapskate....

[Som Tommy]

I will be needing a Banh Mi soon I think

[Soo]

Inflation has hit hard my fav bbq joints too. It's $50 for a rack of ribs.

[Kirk]

You can just have a coffee Dereck!

I can tell what your priorities are TFD! ;o)

Yep, $23 Junichi! Without sounding like one of those "oldies"....I miss those days too!

Same here Kenneth! ;o)

Hope you enjoy ST!

Prices have gotten crazy Soo!