At Chicken House, a Banh Mi By Any Other Name Would be Just as Amazing

photo 1

I’m rarely envious of my coworker’s lunches, but the other day, I looked up and saw this scene on a co-workers desk and couldn’t help but inquire where he’d procured such a gloriously gourmand beast of a sandwich. It was from Chicken House as it turns out, and seemed like a far cry from the meager sandwich that Zach reviewed several years ago.

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The pork banh mi ($6.50) was by far, the single largest and most filling sandwich I’ve ever tried in Midtown, or the rest of Manhattan for that matter. It was absolutely lavished with smoky, meaty, strips of grilled pork, and impossible to eat without leaving a significant amount of sandwich shrapnel.

But a proper banh mi this is not. For one, the carrots and cucumber weren’t pickled (if they were, I couldn’t tell). Iceberg lettuce made a mysterious appearance, and the thing was drenched with mayo. However, if you call it a lusciously grilled pork sandwich on a crackly baguette with carrots, cucumber, cilantro, and lettuce, it would be a sandwich destined for the ML hall of fame. Just don’t call it a banh mi.

Chicken House, 270 W. 36th St. (btw. 7+8th), 212-695-3493

11 Comments

  • User has not uploaded an avatar

    Now THIS is the kind of Midtownlunch I want more of.

  • Amen. As usual, Chris’ vivid descriptors left me confused as to whether to eat the sandwich or have sex with it. Or both.

    Sarah’s on deck with a review of a Somalian fair-trade fruit salad truck.

  • User has not uploaded an avatar

    Are these made to order (aka get it without the mayo)?

  • Welp….. I’m horny.

  • Really? You guys are being mean. I actually thought Chris showed a lot of restraint – I didn’t immediately pick up that this was one of his reviews, the language was pretty straightforward and non-flowery.
    Anyway – I don’t think the cucumber in banh mi is usually pickled, though; not at Paris Sandwich, in any case. Just the daikon and carrots – no?

    Great photos though, not a fan of the cilantro being so minced unless you give me MORE of it… om nom nom.

  • Eh, I say it passes as a banh mi, but only because they have actual ‘traditional’ banh mi at that shop.

    We definitely need more of this.

  • Recently cam back to working in midtown and this was one of my first return lunch destinations. The chicken version is by far my favorite with no mayo and extra spicy. Wash it down with a mexican soda and you are ready for a nap.

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