New York Street Food

(credit: NYSF)

Yay, we finally have a banh mi truck in NYC! There are at least 3 in LA, but in NYC we are only aware of a banh mi cart in the Financial District. If you don’t work downtown, you’re SOL.

The Paris Sandwich Truck is fairly new to NYC, but as we told you recently, they used to sell in Jersey city, and have 2 storefronts in Chinatown.

We love fish, and an authentic Vietnamese banh mi truck should make a decent fish banh mi sandwich, since fish is such a big part of their diet. Let’s find out.

All of the Paris Sandwich banh mis cost $8.  They also had spicy shrimp, coconut curry beef, and some chicken and pork items on the menu too.

(credit: NYSF)

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(credit: NYSF)

Having eaten a banh mi sandwich recently from a food truck in Asheville, NC, we decided to go back to the Banh Mi Cart in the Financial District.

The Banh Mi Cart has 10 different types of banh mi sandwiches such as pork, steak, shrimp and roasted eel.  Prices are generally $6, with a couple at $7 and one for $8.

We went for the Grilled Chicken Baguette, which costs $6.

(credit: NYSF)

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To get an idea of the diversity of street food available in New York, you need look no further than the Banh Mi Cart. Sure, you can easily get 5 different types of burgers on the street during Burger Week, but we are not aware of any other banh mi carts in Manhattan.

It’s not like the Banh Mi Cart is new. They have been around for 6 years, but with us being in an office in midtown, the corner of Hanover Square & Pearl St in FiDi is tough to get to during the week.

While they are fairly popular in New York, some people may not know what a banh mi is. To give you a quick primer, banh mi is a Vietnamese sandwich served on a baguette with meat, pate, a bunch of veggies, and some sauces.

Now that tried them, you might want to make the trek yourself, especially if you work or live in the Financial District. They have 10 different types of baguette sandwiches such as grilled chicken, steak, shrimp and even roasted eel.  Prices are generally $6, with a couple at $7 and one for $8.

We went for the Special Baguette (#1), which is the classic pork & vegetables for $6.

(credit: NYSF)

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Vietnamese Spring Rolls: Cha Gio

Most Americans are familiar with Chinese and Japanese food, and Thai food has gotten pretty far into the mainstream too.

Vietnamese food is still not well known in the US, although banh mi is gaining more fans every day.  Whether that has to do with the Nom Nom Truck kicking butt on the Great Food Truck Race, or just the world shrinking in size because of the Internet, it’s a welcome sign.

For those not familiar with this wonderful cuisine, Vietnam Talking Points has a basic primer on Vietnamese street food, including spring rolls, steamed rice cakes and deep-fried fish patties.  Click the link for more info. [Vietnam Talking Points]

deep-fried fish patty

A few days ago, I received an email from John, of the He Needs Food website.  John recently took us on a great street food tour of Yiwu, an area of China specializing in Uighur food, which is more similar to Turkish food than Chinese.

Now He Needs Food offers us a street food tour of Cabramatta, a predominantly Vietnamese neighborhood in western Sydney, Australia.  John says:  “It’s a hive of bustle and activity from well-seasoned pho establishments to super cheap fresh produce shops selling things you’ve no idea what to do with, to elderly Vietnamese women trying to make a buck from chopped fresh lemongrass or banana-wrapped parcels of sticky rice.”

Join us in exploring this mysterious world after the jump.

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