I must confess, I am a Vietnamese Sandwich expert. I don't use the word "expert" lightly. Unbeknown to me, my parents have trained me into being a Vietnamese Sandwich expert or a banh mi expert. I know my banh mi. In my household, this is like searching for the holy grail.
When I was growing up in midwest, there's hardly any Vietnamese restaurants, much less, a banh mi store. We used to drive 4 hours across the border into Toronto just for banh mi. My parents would try every single banh mi shop in Toronto and when we find that perfect one...guess how many we would buy? Not 5 or 10 but hundreds. I kid you not... Literally hundreds. A good portion was for us but they were also for other family members and close friends. The Vietnamese people in midwest are banh mi fanatics.
My parents are still on the hunt for banh mi. The several thousands that we've eaten are still not enough for their ferocious banh mi appetite. Whenever we travel these days, they are always trying out banh mi shops... still hoping and keeping their eyes out for a good banh mi.
So what does all this background have to do with Dakao sandwiches? You would think I have found the holy grail by typing all that background info but no I just wanted you to know something about me.... :)
Dakao sandwiches or banh mi is pretty good for Las Vegas. I've tried the ones at Hue Thai, SF supermarket and Thanh Phoung by UNLV. Dakao tastes way better. It really helps that their bread is so fresh. I speak to the owners in Vietnamese and my filling on the dac biet or #1 is always freshly. The pate and homemade cold cuts are not gamy and seasoned as they should be for cha (Viet ham). Their pickled veggies can used a bit more seasoning. I like it more sour but that's just a personal preference. They don't compare to the banh mi shops in Little Saigon but it's pretty darn close and this place serves authentic banh mi.
My favorite thing here is not the banh mi but the banh cuon. Banh cuon are rice flour rolls with ground pork fillings. I really like the texture of the rice flour of the banh cuon. If one knows or have very attempted to make them, it's really hard to get the texture of the rice flour right. They make it very nicely here. In fact, it's better then my mom's banh cuon. But don't tell her that.. it'll just be our secret.