Banh Mi Nam Loc

Just a small hole in the wall Vietnamese restaurant. They sell beer and wine. However the pork bahn mi sandwich was delicious. Fresh veggies, warm bread and yummy pork. My husband had soup. Noodles were delicious and broth was tasty, meat tender. The cook has a strong accent but willing to recommend dishes. I loved it for what it is. I rate according to that. Food arrived promptly. Hot tea was complimentary.

YEAH! Grilled pork Banh Mi was good! Only been here once. Serving was kind of paltry, but for $ 2.50 and on freshly baked baguette, can’t go wrong!
Will definitely come back!

First time eating here and I’d have to say it’s not bad. I first ate the salad rolls which was delicious. Then when the Banh Khot came out I dug into it really quick. It was like eating Banh xeo but miniature size bite wraps. I would of gave it 5 stars had the portions been little bit more but it’s all good. I will definitely come here again. The owners are very friendly and they have a flat screen tv you can watch while eating.

100 years later, they finally hand over your food. I have sat in my sweatpants hungover as all hell in this place just tremoring, burping up blue Gatorade, and reeking of booze while waiting desperately/​patiently for my order to be ready on more than one occasion… and every time I wait. I just have to wait and wait as the no one else in the restaurant get their no food to put in their no mouths… and I almost die.
BUT this place is also like 3 blocks from my home, their egg sandwich is good, their bo kho is ok, their coffee is strong, and no matter how much you order you will never spend more than $ 17.
So I wait. Oh, how I wait.

Love this little hole in the wall. The vietnamese food here is authentic, cheap, and very tasty. Their banh mi (vietnamese sandwiches) are less than $ 3, I had the thit nuong (marinated grilled pork) and it was pretty good. They also have bot chien which is a fried dough with eggs that you dip into a special soy sauce… my absolute favorite! They also serve phở (apparently also very good), com tam (rice dishes), and other vietnamese favorites. I can’t wait to come back and try their other dishes. We ordered 2 dishes and 2 sandwiches, all for under $ 19 + friendly customer service and diners. Beat that!

Not sure what the hype is…
This is one of the worst Vietnamese soups I’ve had in Portland. Msg as well! Yay!
Try mekha for msg free delicious phở.

Not going to lie… this place is legit!!! I’m Vietnamese and am pretty picky about what is considered «good» Viet food and this place is pretty close. My mom makes everything better but that’s me being real, plus mom lives 500+ miles away.
I got the small Viet pancakes (banh kot), super nice balance of crunchy and gooey. They serve it with all the fixings for under $ 5! What!!!
I also got a special banh Mi (banh Mi dac biet). French bread is crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. The meat was so-​so and nothing to write home about but are you going to complain about it for $ 2.75? What can you even buy for $ 2.75 anymore?
They’re open til 10PM! That’s probably my favorite part!

Very local, very authentic… But hole in the wall, beware. Flavors were amazing, very cheap, very friendly service.

Total hole in the wall place. It’s in a strip mall, with a hodge-​podge of signs up front — we almost missed the signs for the place among the beer and lottery ticket posters.
Walking in, it’s small, maybe a half dozen two-​tops on the right, and a counter on the left with the kitchen behind it. There were a few guys sittings around, nursing some beers, looking like they were just killing their day. There was some Vietnamese chatter from the older ladies behind the counter and in the kitchen.
We ordered at the register — the older women taking the orders was helpful, though her English was heavily accented and it took me a second to hear through her accent. It did seem like some people that came in after us ordered at their table (in Vietnamese).
They brought water and tea (complimentary) to the table.
The banh mi here is priced like street food — 2.50 for the dac biet, and 2.25 for the other variations (pork sausage, meatball, or grilled pork). Comes in a red plastic basket lined with wax paper. I only had a bite of this, but the bread was great with a fantastic, crunchy crust. The fillings were solid, and the flavors blended nicely. Note this is a much more traditional sandwich, where the French bread is providing the bulk, and the fillings are there to add flavor (as opposed to a filling where the bread is just a prop).
I had the canh bun. I’d never had this before, but from the pictures on the wall, it looked similar to a bun rieu, so I thought I’d give it a try, and I’m glad I did. A rich, red broth, a large piece of rieu/​crab paste, some green I wasn’t familiar with (water spinach?), and nice chunks of tofu among the noodles. They brought out two condiments I wasn’t familiar with, both a kind of muddy brown, and both very salty. I was happy with the broth as is, so I didn’t use them.
I’d been a bit disappointed with most of the Vietnamese options I’d tried so far in Portland, as most of the places closest to me (near downtown/​inner southeast) and highly rated on Unilocal seem to be heavily Westernized. Not quite like «Chinese» food, but definitely heading down that same path — heavier flavors, only the «good» cuts of meat, etc. Looks like if I want Vietnamese, I have to make the trek out towards 82^nd, where the places seem to be a dime a dozen. While a long bike ride/​short drive, the food is definitely much more of what I’m looking for and craving when I want a Vietnamese fix.

I love their egg sandwich. I don’t know why but my coworkers love it too I think we had them 3 times last week. It’s a simple flavor you can probably make at home but it’s addictive.
I get the bot chien just because I like it but Jin Jin makes this dish better. My coworker says the banh can is good and she’s super picky about Viet food. They translated it as crab udon but it’s not exactly that I’m sure they just went with a convenient translation for English speakers. Anyway great hole in the wall with good food that viet people enjoy.
I saw some review about salty scraps of meat I’m sure they just ordered banh mi dac biet and didn’t know what to expect. I’m not surprised the owner wasn’t happy. She’s usually a really cute lady who’s really sweet and serves good, authentic food. If you go into a place and return the food just because it’s not what you expected or like, it’s kinda shitty. I’m not saying never return food if it’s garbage or dirty but this is a different situation I’m sure. Most of her customers are older viet dudes she’s just serving up real. If you want pretty looking, fat free and white friendly cuts of meat go to double dragon or something.

For five bucks I get a chicken banh mi and iced coffee with milk. The sandwich is warm and the bread is crispy and soft. Very authentic food. I can’t wait to try more dishes.

Legit Vietnamese in Portland! I was so happy to find this place tucked away in a strip mall. The chicken bahn mi had the perfect ratio of pickled veggies to meat to crunchy bread ratio.
Complimentary tea comes with all meals and the Vietnamese coffee gave me the buzz I needed.
I was the only Caucasian in the joint. Which to me is a good sign.

I went to this place because of friend and fellow Unilocaler Lin H, who loved it and I generally trust her foodie sensibilities.
One of my goals is to eat more yummy food. This place has helped me to ring in the New Year quite well. So well that I actually went here last night for a late lunch. I had their shredded pork bahn mi — which was 10000x more tasty than the shredded pork at Best Baguette. I don’t know how they marinade the pork, but I feel like the pigs they use may truly be wonderful, magical animals that Homer Simpson spoke so fondly of. (Don’t worry, I didn’t get a sense any of my food used to go by the name Spider Pig OR Harry Plopper).
Tonight, my roommate decided he really, really needed to try this place. He got the meatball sandwich, I got the phở and we also got an order of the eggrolls and the bahn khot.
Banh Khot are little shrimp pancake things. Apparently no one else in Portland makes these small bite size pieces of heaven. As you can probably tell, from my love of shrimp and pork, I am in no way kosher. Trust me on the banh khot.
The phở was pretty standard in terms of phở, however, if you get it to-​go, they put the meat in with the warm broth so the meat cooks better. The eggrolls were also fairly standard, but still tasty.
I give Nam Loc an enthusiastic full stomach and warm heart.

CAME HERE ON CHRISTMAS DAY BECAUSE THE OVERRATED DIM SUM PLACES DOWN FURTHER ON 82ND WERE FULL — NO JOKE, FULL.
I had no idea this place was an actual Vietnamese restaurant until the parentals took me here and told me this place is new. It looks more run-​down and ghetto/​ratchet than anything I’ve seen in Seattle, and more like a place you buy scratch-​it tickets and play those coin-​operated slot machines.
So we come in, and the place is small AND full, but there was an available table for us. Here are some of the things we got:
Phở Tai
–Pretty good phở, and I would say it’s really on par with other phở places; they got the greens (e.g. lime, basil, bean sprouts) and other fix-​its, and the broth is flavorful and not watered down, a characteristic of bad phở
Crab Udon
–Actual crab inside with crab flavor and well-​cooked udon; if I remember correctly, I don’t think many Vietnamese places in Seattle have this dish, and thus Nam Loc Deli gets some brownie points for that
Banh Khot
–Rare to find this in the Pacific Northwest — I’ve been living in Seattle for 3 years and don’t know of any Vietnamese place there that sells this mini-​pancake thing w/​shrimp (that’s how I would describe Banh Khot); this thing was good AND the owner did not skimp on the shrimp at all
Durian Smoothie
–The owner forgot to make it after we ordered it, but we reminded him afterwards so oh well; the smoothie contains real durian and little/​none sugar/​sweetener added so it’s healthy to say the least, and you can get a mango one if you think durian and/​or avocado smoothies are gross (I’m judging you if you do)
All in all, this place is legit and if I come here next time I want to try the cheap $ 2.25 Banh Mi. This place can work on its exterior though if it feels not enough customers are frequenting it haha.

Holy holy holy. It is prophetic that I found this place around Christmas because I am pretty sure if Jesus came today he would come in the form of bahn mi from Nam Loc Deli. I am still kind of processing my experience honestly. The bread was so freaking good and the sauces they used were just spot on…
Craziest thing is the bahm mi I ordered was 2.25!!! How is this possible?! I will be coming back here time and time again.

What a wonderful, friendly, tasty place. Humble hole in the wall with a few tables. The super-​friendly staff attempted to steer me toward the standard phở, but I had to try the Canh Bun and was so glad I did. Crab flake, fried tofu, tomatoes and vegetables in a rich, clean broth. It was fantastic. And a complete steal at 6.75 for a generous bowl. Their Bahn Mi is solid, too and not surprisingly, super cheap. When paying the bill and heaping accolades on their soup, the owner still said, «next time you order Phở!». Maybe I will, but I will be more tempted to try their other varieties before the standard Beef Phở. If you seek incredibly reasonable prices, homemade quality and don’t have illusions of a fancy joint, stop in and eat here. Highly recommended.

My craving of banh mi just could not handle another ignore. I Unilocaled around and found some great looking pics of big french bread with its lovely insides showing. I also always drive by this little hole in the wall and they always have a big picture outside of this food porn.
Very busy when we showed up but someone shared a table with us.
Got our orders fairly quickly however which included a side of vegetarian salad rolls and thai iced tea with boba even. Of course I got my huge vegetarian banh mi. I dove into that sandwich right away. The package was huge but the filling was blasé. No other way to explain it. Lots of french bread that was truly fresh. I even asked for extra veggies. Could barely see them over the bread. And worst part. I don’t think there was any soy/​mayo inside. Dry. I ended up grabbing the hot sauce and pouring it all over it so I could make the best of it. The salad rolls were fresh but again nothing to write home (or here) about. The thai iced tea was delicious and the boba was a nice additional treat.
Not a place I will go back to. It was very loud, pretty doggone small and not a lot of big flavors.

In accordance with 82^nd Avenue’s reputation for typical products sold at steep discounts, Nam Loc Deli offers us a Banh Mi sandwich for $ 2.25. The price is intriguing because that’s rotten fast food level pricing, so how does it taste?
I went in and it had a fairly interesting selection at the counter. The front had all kinds of drinks from America and from Asia. They had all kinds of candy and lottery tickets. As I turned, I saw tables that provided all the necessary utensils and condiments. I also saw deals, usually adding drinks or a small snack for a $ 4 or so combo.
After looking at a menu, i had the chicken teriyaki bang mi. I had my chips and soda. Then after a few minutes, the banh mi arrived.
It tasted great. The vegetables blended with the typical teriyaki flavor. The sandwich felt fresh and the bread had a nice crunch.
With this Vietnamese deli, the only need is to have the most insignificant, chump change. The selection is also vast with various kinds of rolls and other combos. Sandwiches were meant to be a common product where all kinds of people could see all kinds of good food conveyed on a bun and in a world of expensive and overhyped sandwiches, the banh mi is this ideal today. Not to mention the bahn mi here is high quality.
Nam Loc Deli provides an enthusiastic, hard-​to-​beat value.

Years ago there was a big bahn mi craze and everybody wanted them and articles were written about them, even by me on a foodie website I used to frequent a lot. Then it died down, but the sandwiches were still good, and still cheap.
Now here in Portland, most places you go do their version of a bahn mi but want to charge you $ 6– $ 8 for one. That’s nuts. If you pay more than $ 3.50 for a bahn mi, Then you are in the wrong place. DON’T DO IT. It’s obviously not authentic. Go find a Vietnamese place and you will only pay $ 2-​$ 3 and that’s it and still get great food.
I found Nam Loc weeks ago when I happen to be over by the Hong Phat grocery store and I knew I had to try the place out. It’s a tiny place with only four or five small tables and a small menu with salad rolls, phở, bahn khot (pancakes), chicken wings and of course a list of eight different sandwiches. Ham with pâté, pork sausage, grilled pork, egg, sardines, chicken teriyaki or shredded pork are your options and any one of them are only $ 2.25. THAT’S IT!!!
It comes on some great crusty french bread and tasty veggies inside. Cucumbers, pickled carrots, jalapenos and cilantro with a sweet sauce. I’m usually used to a form of mayo on the sandwiches but they did this other sauce and it worked. The pork was great, but maybe could have used a bit more but it was good and tasted like it should.
I had a place I went to occasionally down in Carrollton, TX and this place reminded me of it, minus all the other local Vietnamese cuisine to sample randomly. Nothing on the menu is over $ 10.00 and that’s for and order of chicken wings or a large shrimp and pork salad with Lotus salad.
I want to go back and try more, and I will, hopefully soon. The bahn mi was great. Go to places like this, not pretentious food carts that aren’t authentic. Get it from the people who were raised on these.
Enjoy.

This place is a new fave.
My friend asked me what a Vietnamese sandwich was yesterday and I had a real hankerin’ for one today. Unfortunately, An Xuyen was closed. This place, however, is open until 10 PM which is phenomenal. I went right over and bought a few things — sandwich, and delicious mochi in ginger sugar cane syrup with coconut cream.
This place has homey Vietnamese food DOWN. While Lanvin and An Xuyen are great for apple-​shaped puffs and swan boats filled with cream, this place will give you a fragrant home made crab soup (recommended by the owner) and a cup of mochi to take home, still warm.
Pandan, spice and sugarcane-​ginger twisted with green onion. These are the down home tastes this little place will serve you, all for a dollar or two until ten PM. Just a great find.