Vietnamese Banh-mi Sandwich Cart

At this point, through no premeditation, I’m something of a veteran of the downtown banh mi scene. This is probably the worst one I’ve had. The bulk of the flavor came from the pickled carrots, which were aggressively sweet. This was pretty much the one note of the affair. I don’t recommend eating here.

I’m a big fan of bahn mi, and this place is prob top 3 in the city. Value, taste and bread. The bread is soft and crispy, number 1 combo is bimb and the number 6 beef is unreal.
Try it you won’t go wrong, beat the lunch crowd though cud get crowded. Enjoy

The wait was a bit long, but our fault for going right at lunchtime for everyone in the neighborhood!
The bread was fresh and wonderful, the pickled vegetables were fresh and tart and the meat was wonderful. No complaints on the sandwich or the price!

By (PHO) pun intended (by far) the best wonton soup in the area, and great price. It is my go to as I am starting a cold or just when I need to warm up in the soggy NW weather.

2.5 stars
First and foremost, I just want to say that I’m Vietnamese and have grown up around Vietnamese food. So I know my shit.
This cart is my go to, ONLY because it’s literally less than a block away from my apartment and I crave Vietnamese food like every day. Seriously. Every. Single. Day. Oh how I miss San Jose & the OC.
Phở — the phở is… ok for a food cart. I give them props for making phở in a food cart. Definitely a LOT better than the place on the corner of broadway and college. However, it is filled with SO MUCH MSG! I kid you not, I knocked out for 3 hours after finishing my meal! Hahaha talk about food coma…
Spring rolls — aka goi cuon — aka «salad» rolls to them. These are actually pretty decent. They are HUGE compared to what I’m used to and are filled with tons of lettuce, some pickled carrots, vermicelli, and whatever protein you choose (traditional is pork and shrimp). For the price that you pay, this is a pretty good deal. Add some of that chili garlic paste or sriracha to their peanut sauce!
Banh mi — meh. Nothing memorable to say about this hah. If yall think their banh mi is good, you’re missing out on life. Please buy yourself a plane ticket to CA and have some legit Vietnamese food.

Coming from the Bay Area, I thought most banh mis are pretty standard. French baguette, picked carrots and daikon radish, jalapeño, cilantro, goopy mayo, and whatever choice of meat.
And I thought most banh mis are around $ 3.50 each.
This was not the case for Portland, apparently. Most of the food carts/​restaurants that I looked up have banh mis starting at $ 4.50… which is like, luxury banh mi price in the Bay Area. So imagine my surprise when I found a $ 3.50 banh mi cart by the school, I had to check it out!
I got a #2 grilled pork banh mi. Yes, the baguette was warm and soft, even though it was a bit stale. That was the only good thing about it. The pork itself was over seasoned (too sweet and salty), and too much ginger marinade, in my opinion. The amount of meat is… slim.
The pickled veggies were not crunchy, and I’d prefer them to be a little more tart to cut the greasiness of the meat and add flavor and texture to the sandwich itself.
Where is that jalapeño?
They do have a banh mi + iced coffee/​thai tea deal going for $ 5, that was the only good thing going for them I think.

These are my favorite sandwiches in the city. BBQ pork and traditional viet banh mi with a Thai iced coffee, $ 8.50 … A place in NW with far worse sandwiches would charge 13 for that. The bread is crisp yet fluffy and the meat is extremely well, but not over seasoned. The guy must put in 70
Hour weeks, he’s always there. What a great local business. Go here, seriously.

This is by the PSU food cart pod. I got the pork Banh mi and two salad rolls (pork and shrimp). The Banh mi was ok, I wanted chicken but he had run out of it. The bread could have been fresher, you definitely get better BanhMi around portland. The pork salad roll was nice, but the shrimp one barely had any shrimp. Prices are decent though and its value for money, not the best vietnamese food though.

This place is great, and they just got a new cart… lookin’ good! I love their sandwiches, I always get 2 for $ 6 and save one for later. I’ve only ever had the BBQ pork but I’ve eaten there once every couple months for 3 years? It looks like they’re on the up-​and-​up recently, good for them! Breads good. Pickled/​shredded carrots are really nice. Meat is warm and seasoned. My only complaint is that I don’t get much cilantro, which is an essential component in my opinion. I should ask for extra next time, 1 stem is not enough. Service is friendly. Cash only. Comes in a paper bag which is nice for transporting warm sandwiches home. Really easy to eat on the go. I have never tried the salad rolls but I’ve seen them and they look good too. The sandwiches aren’t messy either, which is a plus if you’re eating with a date or coworker. The little cart does get busy, but its not a long wait. YUM

This is one of my favorite food carts. It’s close to my work and I eat there probably too often. Salad rolls with grilled pork are awesome, as is the beef phở. Sandwiches are good too. I haven’t tried every variation of everything but those three things are so good I can just keep getting them. I’m sure everything else is just as good, I really don’t think there’s any way to go wrong with this cart. The only thing that would help them, is to pretty-​up their cart a little bit– they don’t stand out as much as their food does among the dozen or so carts that put more effort into their appearance than their food… so maybe it’s not a bad thing after all. Just keep doing what you’re doing, BM cart.
Except… maybe the sign… BM cart? Um. I’m guessing they don’t know what BM stands for, but I work in healthcare so it’s going to be the first thing I think of, unfortunately.

Review for the salad rolls. Prob one of my least favorite rolls ever. Iceberg lettuce? Really? And where is the basil or mint? Seriously lackluster with just pork and shrimp for $ 3.5 for 3.

They actually are open on most Sundays. Had a chicken sandwich. Bread to meat ratio is a little off. Wish there were more filling. Tangy sauce is good, but meat isn’t very favorable. Salad rolls are HUGE, good. Served with a soy peanut sauce which was tasty, but I like sweater peanut sauce. Good place to get a Bahn Mi fix if in the area.

I’ve eaten A LOT of Vietnamese sandwiches before. Never before have I had one so drenched in some kind of mysterious sauce that oozed all over the place. Banh Mi sandwiches should be simple, fresh, with clean favors. I didn’t get any of that from the two sandwiches we ordered.

I would agree with Jess P, these sandwiches are thrown together haphazardly and lack that bahn mi freshness I’ve come to expect. The baguette is spot on, as is the $ 3.50 price tag however the rest left much to be desired. My sandwich was lacking in pickled veggies, had mostly cilantro stems (which get really stringy) and the tofu was quickly nuked in a microwave and tossed in a light hosin. This felt like a college student effort at a bahn mi.

This is one of the best food carts Portland has to offer if you like Vietnamese food. I happen to love it, so this spot is the bees knees.
Here’s a rundown of the menu items I have ordered:
Sandos: All are delicious and everything is fresh. They have every variety imaginable and they are a good deal if you just want one because you’re going to also order the salad rolls as part of your lunch. A sandwich and salad rolls gives you the best of both worlds in that arena, the peanut sauce is tasty and the salad rolls are generous and you have a choice of what meat you would like in them, or tofu if you want to go that route.
Their Phở Ga: (chicken phở) has some of the best phở broth I have ever tasted and I’ve eaten my fair share of phở in this town. If you’re in the mood for it, I highly recommend it. They include all the side fixin’s too, the hoisin sauce, hot sauce, basil etc. I haven’t had the beef phở, but the chicken one rules!
The Vermicelli bento: is also delicious and a generous sized portion for 5 dollars. It comes with cilantro, shredded cabbage mix, side of sauce, bean sprouts and all the other tasties. You can choose which type of meat or tofu you would like.
The one and only downfall from my experience with this place is that it takes some time to get your food. So, you gotta be patient, ya hurd? The guy who runs this place is a sweetie and he always has a nice smile to give free of charge.

$ 6 for 2 banh mi sandwiches. Service was pretty slow, but this was during the lunch rush. Can’t complain too much since this was a pretty damn tasty bargain– even better with some hoisin and chili sauces!

Good sandwich, fairly priced ($ 3.50). the 2 for $ 6 makes this place a must-​try, though.
I got the BBQ pork sandwich. Good flavor, but I might’ved like a little more pork (though there’s not really a such thing as «enough pork» ever, amirite?)
There is better, cheaper, banh mi to be had around town, though.
Now if I were a PSU student, I’d be here a few times a week, because while it’s definitely not the best bahn mi around, it’s definitely still a good sandwich cart.
Only one person working while I was there. Took a bit to get our food, but that’s OK with me if it’s just one person working really hard (which was the case, here).

Hmmm.
I ordered the #5 Vegetarian Banh Mi. The photograph promised it to be full of cilantro and carrots and delicious glazed tofu. Well… there was some carrots in there… I’m pretty sure I tasted a bit of cilantro… the tofu had some sauce on it… But it was certainly not the beautifully constructed sandwich I witnessed in the picture. In reality, my sandwich seemed to be little more than tofu and bread. The bread was really good, and the tofu wasn’t bad, but I wanted a bit more of the flavor oomph as offered by the veggies and the sauce.
While this cart wasn’t a tremendous letdown, there’s better banh-​mi foodcarts around.

Passable banh mi. Friendly guy. Decent value. I’ve definitely had better. The rolls were nicely crunchy but there wasn’t much in them.

Pretty good banh mi, and at 2 for $ 6, the price is right. I got two veggie sandwiches, and while the fillings are a little skimpy, the bread was light and crunchy and the fillings had good flavor.
I’d give ‘em 3.5 stars, but this is among the best banh mi I’ve found in pdx, so I’ll round up.