Paris Sandwich

There was this uncomfortable moment after I entered this place, lured in by the giant sign out front displaying a "multi texture" drink called the "Paris Special" -- which looked like those "Bambu Special" drinks popularized by Bambu shops on the West coast.

One employee to another: "make her a Paris special."

Other employee, looking genuinely perplexed: "a what?"

First employee more emphatically "make her a Paris Special!"

"What?"

Two more rounds of this, and finally first employee grabs sign off counter, turns it around and points to said drink.

Friend, later in the night as I recounted this story:
"God, at that point I would've just left."

I stayed. And while it took them a minute and I sort of stood around awkwardly at this lunch counter while what seemed to be regulars ordered sandwiches, when I left I had in my hands the best drink I had all trip!

For under $5 it was like a whole little meal in a glass, with grass jelly, coconut milk, basil seed, red bean (maybe?) Think I got that list right. I wish I had asked for no ice but it was still great.

This place is on the border between Chinatown and Little Italy but serving up French Vietnamese sandwiches, along other lunch and bakery items, etc.

Once everyone was on the same page about the drink ingredients, the employees were quite friendly.

I'm a fan!

I LOVE their Viet Coffee, Green Tea Pancake, & Grilled Chicken Viet Sandwich. Enough said, try out one of the few Viet Bakery/Cafe around Chinatown. Your tastebuds won't lie!

NOTE: Make a visit to their NEW BRANCH located on 213 Grand St (between Mott St & Elizabeth St).

Paris Sandwich is whole lot MORE than just sandwiches. If you walk beyond the sandwich stand, in the back is Paris' Authentic Vietnamese restaurant. The menu that is posted in the link above is only for sandwiches.

Paris Sandwich is the BEST Vietnamese restaurant in all of NY and this comes from a woman whose family is from Vietnam and are super critical of the food. In fact let me tell you a secret. The owner of the restaurant in back use to have a very famous restaurant in Saigon that my mom use to eat at when she was little.

We always start with the spring rolls but you MUST try the GRILLED GRAPE LEAF BEEF - it will be one of the most amazing things that you have tasted. Very few restaurants outside of LA serve this and do it well.

The Spicy Tamarind Soup with chicken is also delicious. My mom makes this at home and its one of her specialties but I have to say mama, Paris does it better.

I also recommend the House made Savory Crepe, the Pan Fried House Made Vermicelli Noodles and the Hue Style Beef Soup and the Beef Cubes Rice

My mom loves the Fish Casserole but I'm not a fan of catfish.

This is our family's go to Vietnamese restaurant. Whenever a new one opens, we always rush to try but this is hands down the best in all of NY including the Boroughs.

After a long, winding and immensely draining week my body was unable to move despite my stomach wanted substance to continue onwards. One entree of Pork Chop on white rice at $5.95 was moderate and compatible with my budget. There are insufficient seats for dinning in as many patrons appear to selfishly take their sweet time sipping their drinks and chit chatting as oppose to relinquish their seats for incoming patrons. Service is somewhat attentive and patron friendly. I do not believe there are any facility on the premise.

Despite the name "Paris Sandwich" it has minimal resemblance to Parisian cuisine as many of the French baguettes have a Vietnamese flair. Having the opportunity to previously traveled to Paris, France, this bakery cafe best described as Pan-Asian knock-off of Parisian baguettes and pastries.

One of the newest Banh Mi shops to open in Chinatown, Paris has a lot to prove in an already very established Vietnamese sandwich loving community. It seems off to a good start however, with a fantastic location along Mott, semi-spacious interior, and the place features a hearty variety of Banh Mi for all who crave the sandwich. Thankfully the prices are consistent with the rest of the sandwich shops, at only $1.50-$3.00 a sandwich. For the Lunar New Year, we had ordered a bulk amount of banh mi, and it tasted fantastic. Probably one of the best I've had in Chinatown so far.

UPDATE (05/19/2008): Disappointing changes over the course of a year, as the Banh Mi's have gotten pricier ($4.00 a sandwich now), the staff is way more incompetent (screwing up orders, forgetful, busy, and don't understand Vietnamese with exception to two workers), and the sandwiches are no longer as delicious as they once were. They still have a very clean establishment and the bread is baked in house still. It now gets 3 stars instead of 4.

I do not recommend getting the banh mih sandwiches here. The ones at Banh Mih Saigon are significantly superior in taste and quality of ingredients!!

Cons:
* We waited forever for 2 sandwiches, where at Saigon you get them instantly
* The meat does not taste fresh and has more of a sour taste
* The daikon and carrots aren't even that pickled and taste like raw vegetables- so disgusting
* Also more expensive and slightly smaller than Saigon

Never returning here for sandwiches. Thumbs down!

It's not Cam Huong in Oakland, Chinatown, but it will do.

That being said, I tried the special, which I think is mixed deli meats and pate. The bread was really good, but not really as fresh as I thought it would be. ( maybe it's because I ordered takeout )

The sandwich meat was good and the pate was good, but it just lacked that flavor that I'm used to. Maybe the veggies aren't pickled enough, or they didn't use the right kind of dressing, or the pate isn't fatty enough, I can't really put my finger on it, but I just really miss the Banh Mi back home.

The workers working behind the counter has poor sanitary knowledge and bad customer service. I saw this middle aged lady who made my milk tea, used the mixer spoon to taste my drink and placed it on the table. I'm positive her saliva will end up in someone else's drink.

I was forced to come here since my usual bahn mi place, Bahn Mi Saigon, sold out of all their bahn mi's. I ordered the Banh Mi Bi which is the shredded pork baguette. I would have to say that the pork filling was quite tasty and had a great charred flavor to it. However, I feel that they skimped out on the meat filling and also the bread was quite stale and chewy. At $5 a bahn mi for a Chinatown establishment, I expect better. There is no way they can compete with Bahn Mi Saigon. I recommend to go down a block and get a much better bahn mi at a lesser price.

This trip settled it for me: Paris is the best bánh mì in the city. Just the fresh -- crispy on the outside, soft on the inside -- bread is enough to the seal the deal. The grilled pork is juicy and delicious and the cucumber, shredded carrots and cabbage are fresh.

You can also stay and eat in a fairly comfortable environment, the place has the vibe of a small sub shop.

The sandwich here seemed a little bigger than the one I got recently at the newer Grand Street location, it wasn't quite as large as the other local places, but similar and quite filling. The ingredients are superior and the bread makes the sandwich. You can't go wrong for $4.00 here.

I also recommend the green tea waffle. I often stop in when I'm in the neighborhood for this $1.00 treat, but today I realized they also offer toppings. I got the kaya (coconut jam) which they spread onto the waffle and then fold it in half which makes for handy eating. Kaya was the most expensive topping at $1.00, but they have about half a dozen other toppings for around 50 cents.

Vietnamese coffee is also great and the perfect compliment to a waffle (small is just 85 cents or get the one-size-fits-all iced coffee for $2.75).