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| - Alright - so I used to go to this little bakery in Vancouver, Kingsway to exact, and load up on banh mi. Banh mi is a pretty big deal in Vancouver - people supported either Tung Hing, Ba Le or Au Petite Cafe. I was under the Tung Hing banner - they didn't overstuff their banh mi like the other popular joints, but I always felt the balance of flavours was much better.
Their house special includes a slice of char siu (Chinese BBQ pork) - not traditional at all, but I like it. And you have a good balance of the traditional ingredients (Vietnamese ham, pickled daikon and carrots, cilantro, etc.). I also really like the butter and pate they used - rich but not overstated. But the secret weapon was their in-house baked baguette. Some people *hate* their baguette because it's unlike your normal short, thick, flaky banh mi bun - it's a proper baguette, with a crispy shell and chewiness. This is really what polarized people - the bread was the deal breaker.
Anyways, I was a Tung Hing regular and often got their $3.25 house special subs, which is relatively cheap in Vancouver.
After gorging in the usual Toronto Chinatown spots like Nguyen Huong and Ba Le 2 (not related to the Vancouver chain, AFAIK) and thoroughly enjoying the $2 banh mi here, I finally made my way to East Chinatown. Lo and behold, the 'main office' of Tung Hing is here and it was like reuniting with an old friend. Note there are actually two Tung Hings in East Chinatown about 3 blocks away from each other, one on Broadview (which looks busier and newer) and the other on Gerrard - I went to the 'head office' on Gerrard, it's like travelling to Mecca for me.
The 'Saigon special' here is $2.25 and is very similar to the Vancouver banh mi I'm familiar with a few differences:
- the baguette is not as good and more like the traditional short, thick banh mi bread - still solid but not the same
- they still have the same ingredients and the lady really overstuffed my sandwich, which made it different - just jam packed with veggies, pate and butter
- I got my subs to go - they packed my sandwiches in little branded plastic bags and they put a jalapeno pepper at the bottom - I guess it's great to add and control your own hot pepper distribution. Some lazy 'banh mi artist' would just stuff one whole pepper your sub and it'll wait for you like a spicy landmine. However, not very convenient if you're planning to eat the sub somewhere where you don't have a knife... or you're a moron like me, and decide to chop the pepper then go to the washroom in a poorly executed sequence.
Overall, I like the overstuffing but really wish their had the long, chewy baguette they have in Vancouver (it's similar to the bread they use at Ba Le 2 on Dundas) - however, same awesome pate, butter and char siu and it's a buck cheaper than Vancouver! Also, I really think this is my favourite banh mi joint in Toronto thusfar -- only wish I didn't live so far from East Chinatown.
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