The best thing about going to a meeting anywhere near Civic Center is the possibility of eating Vietnamese food for lunch. I debated among Mangosteen (garlic noodles), Turtle Tower (pho ga), and Baguette Express, and decided to let my wallet do my decision making today.
$2.75 for a Special Combination sandwich--apparently "special" costs you an extra quarter here, but it's worth it. Baguette Express uses a lot more pate than the other Vietnamese sandwich places. That's fine by me! Crispy toasted French bread, a bunch of different meat, a cucumber spear, cilantro, jalepeno, and pickled carrots. I do wish they'd include more veggies and add some pickled daikon, but it's really a very small complaint. Baguette Express is also clean and well lit, which are points in its favor when compared to Saigon Sandwich and Wraps Delight (not that I don't eat at those places as well).
Slight disappointment today: they had neither carrot nor sugar cane juice. They did have orange juice (boring) and lemongrass juice (ick; I think lemongrass tastes too much like grass and not enough like lemon). If I'm going to drink a cup of sugar, it'd better be exactly what I want.
Oh, and how many of you know that the Main Branch of the San Francisco Public Library has a roof garden on the 6th floor? The flowers were looking a bit shabby today because it's winter, but it's always the quietest place in the library. Great secret spot to take a look at your books, figure out what you really want to check out, enjoy some sunshine, and have some peace and quiet. It's even better when you manage to sneak up a Vietnamese sandwich, because you can't eat inside the library but no one's ever cared when I eat out on the garden. To get there, go through the mini museum, which usually has fun artsy things on display.
7 comments:
Dear Pei,
My stomache gets sad when I read your page, jailed in the land-o-chain restaurants. Then again, they do have a chain of Lees Vietnamese sandwich places in Orange County but somehow it is very different if not bought at hole-in-wall place on SF corner.
The end.
Dear Pei,
That wasn't the best grammar. Maybe I should've written:
Being jailed in the land-o-chain restaurants, my stomache gets sad when I read your page. Then again, they do have a chain of Lees Vietnamese sandwich places in Orange County but it is somehow less fulfilling when sandwiches are not bought at at hole-in-wall places on SF corners.
The end?
to anonymous, there are plenty of non-chain places in OC that sell good vietnamese places. you just need to find vietnamese people who will take you to them in little saigon.
sorry i mean "sell vietnamese sandwiches"
I think Jo's volunteering.
Well now I'm really hungry. Just found your website a few weeks ago and love it. They don't happen to have a veggie version of the sandwich do they?
I've never seen a vegetarian Vietnamese sandwich option, so you'd probably get a weird look and your sandwich would have the following: raw cilantro, raw jalepeno slices, a raw cucumber spear, pickled carrots, and maybe pickled daikon. It might be tasty, especially if you let them put some mayo on it.
Enjoy the site!
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