I have never quite developed a taste for Bánh Mì. I must have eaten it less than 10 times in my whole life. I enjoyed it but it never got to that “Wah, I need to have this again soon!” feeling until I had it at Banh Mi Saigon.
Many have referred to Bánh Mì Saigon as a hidden gem, and it certainly is! Located on the ground level of an old HDB block of flats which is itself located in a sleepy corner of Ang Mo Kio, it is the last place you would expect to find a little Vietnamese takeaway, not to mention Singapore’s best Banh Mi (according to my friend Aaron who loves Vietnamese food and is married to a Vietnamese lady)
The lady who founded the stall is Ngoc Diep (Victoria) who grew up in Vietnam. Her grandmother founded a business where she supplies cold cuts to Bánh Mì stalls. That’s how she got the recipes to make her cold cuts here in their central kitchen where she also makes the Vietnamese style baguettes, pate and other fillings.
Authentic Cold Meats and Sauces
The unique feature of Bánh Mì is the fact that they combine various cold cuts in a sandwich together with pate and other Vietnamese sauces. For years I have wondered what these cuts were all about and I finally got to ask Ngoc Diep about them. So here’s a quick rundown of the different cold meats:
The four different cold cuts are all made from finely ground pork. The first one on the top left has pork skin and mushrooms. Next to that is the one with orange rind which has pieces of ham inside and wrapped with pork skin on the outside. Next to that is the plain one with just ground pork and on the bottom row is pork skin and black pepper.
These four cold cuts are combined for their signature “Special Great” sandwich (No.1) which is the most popular sandwich sold at the stall.
Aside from the cold cuts, they also have four different sauces which are added to their crispy toasted baguette. The first is a sweet soy sauce to which fish sauce is added. Then there is a bright yellow “mayonnaise” made from butter and egg yolk. They also have green scallions in oil and finally homemade pate made from pork liver. All these sauces, combined with the crispy baguette, cold cuts, and vegetables make for a highly satisfying sandwich with a medley of taste and textures! I especially like that the sandwiches are freshly toasted such that the baguette is warm and shatteringly crisp when you bite into it! 4.5/5
Other Banh Mi flavours to try!
Aside from Special Great No. 1, they have a dizzying selection of other sandwiches on the menu which, if you are not familiar with, you’d probably not order. So, I will highlight a few that I think are worth trying. The Roast Pork No. 5 and Salted baked Roast Chicken No. 9 are quite popular but the meats are outsourced to a third-party supplier, so I won’t be highlighting those.
If you enjoy Taiwanese sausages, you’d like the grilled meat pork rolls. They are made of two different types of grilled pork, one is a straight-up marinated pork while the other is a sweet red sausage that they made in-house. It’s a difficult toss-up between this one and the Special Great No. 1 for me which I why I like to bring someone along so that I can have both! 4.5/5
Conclusion
The best Banh Mi you can find in Singapore according to my friend Aaron and as good as the ones found in Vietnam. I have to agree that it is the best Banh Mi I have eaten here. However, I have also heard from friends who have eaten Banh Mi in Vietnam that it still pales to the best ones there. I guess you will have to try them yourself and let us know what you think!