Vietnamese Sandwich Number Four

Vietnamese Sandwich Number Four

Best Baguette, Powell Blvd. near 82nd Ave., Portland, Oregon.

Whenever I feel squeezed for time—my definition of “squeezed” is probably a bit more leisurely than yours—I use that atypical state as an excuse to grab a Number Four at the nearby Best Baguette Vietnamese sandwich shop. My repeated visits to Best Baguette have been my only experience of “fast food” in decades: situated next door to a Fast Food Power Center (KFC/A&W at one corner versus Carl’s Junior at the other, Taco Bell and Burger King a few blocks down), Best Baguette—complete with drive-thru service—seems to fit right in. Once inside however, and confronted by not only the sandwich menu on the wall, but also racks of sweet pastries, a bubble tea menu, frozen yogurt, and various baked goods, I always breathe a sigh of relief that I’m here rather than next door or across the street smelling grease-and-dough encrusted protein pellets.

Number Four is the Grilled Pork Vietnamese Sandwich. In case you’ve never encountered a Vietnamese Sandwich or “Banh Mi,” it’s basically a baguette cut lenthwise (like a sub sandwich) with stuff inside: a bit of meat and some shredded vegetables with Vietnamese seasoning, the styles of which vary from shop to shop. Best Baguette has a little packet of veggies they sprinkle on top of the meat: mostly shredded carrot. On top of that, they usually throw on a pile of cilantro and some sliced jalapeno pepper. My Number Four is always ordered “with no cilantro,” of course, but I have accepted the jalapeno as a challenge.

This evening, as I drove down 82nd Ave. toward my destination, I was contemplating my sandwich choices. I could order the Number Four as usual, or I could try something different. I knew there were quite a few other meat choices and several people have made recommendations. But each of them have pitfalls. There’s the Best Baguette Special: “Classic combination of pate, premium ham, pork roll and head.” No way: the paté I’m sure has organ meats and I can’t even imagine what “head” might be. Okay, it’s probably the head of something. Then there’s Pork Roll, “traditional Southeast Asian deli style pork slices.” Um no. This is definitely not going to be any kind of deli style I’m familiar with. Okay, there’s the Grilled Chicken (Number Three). That’s what I used to get, before I tried Number Four. It’s good, but not quite as good as Number Four. Moving on. Meatball: “Vietnamese style meatballs slowly simmered in broth.” That might be okay, but still,  a meatball has lots of room for unknown icky things. Well, here’s an idea: Saigon Bacon. Sounds good, except they call it “Cured fatty bacon slices made famous in the capitol city.” Fatty. I’ll try that some other time. Paté. I already covered that. “No way paté.” That leaves only a few more: Shredded Pork with Pork Skin, Sardine—and various combinations of all of the above. The last time I tried sardines they were on a gourmet pizza, which would have been allright, except for the sardines. Pork with Pork skin? Well, again, room for grossness. Then there’s the “French Sandwiches” menu. These are your normal American sandwiches, despite the “French.” Needless to say, I’m not here for roast beef.

Tonight’s Number Four was the first I’d had in quite a while, maybe a few years. The bread didn’t seem quite as fresh as I remember it. They bake the baguettes on the premises and usually they’re perfect. This time, not quite perfect. The pork was tasty as usual, and they seem to have really piled on the jalapeno in an effort to fill in the space usually reserved for cilantro. (I removed most of the jalapeno, but retained one slice for each third of the sandwich.) The sandwich was tasty and satisfying with a little extra throat burning for added excitement. As expected, I loved my Number Four. Even so, I think it’s possible that some day I really may try one of the other sandwiches. If I do, I’ll tell you all about it.