Banh Mi Phuong: Next-Level Banh Mi in Hoi An
Maybe it was because I had such an exhausting day, but I felt like I just blinked and it was morning again. My current state was like one of those cartoon characters melting with smoke coming out of their body. Unlike me, who was worrying about whether I could even make it to Da Nang today, my friend of 20 years woke up and immediately said, "Let's eat," instead of "Did you sleep well?" It never ceases to amaze me.
"I'm going to sleep just a little more..." I said, hiding under the covers. My friend immediately replied, "Then I'll tell them to give me pho!" and went off to eat breakfast. You're the best.
I barely managed to drag myself up, pack my bags, and get ready to go. After that, I tried desperately to recover my lost soul while drinking coffee at 11 Coffee, but it showed no signs of returning. My friend must have felt bad that I skipped breakfast and kept suggesting we eat something. Honestly, I had zero appetite and just needed a drink like juice or soda. But after constant nagging, I bought and ate an apple mango. It turned out to be the worst mango of my life, and my appetite completely crossed over to the afterlife.
Right then, my friend delivered a cheesy line straight out of an 80s movie—"Just follow me"—like pulling out a secret weapon, and we rushed over to Banh Mi Phuong.
I asked if it was really so good that we had to eat banh mi again when we just had it yesterday. But my friend praised it non-stop the whole way there, insisting this place was on a completely different level from what we'd eaten before. Anyone listening would think they'd been to Vietnam twice, but this was their first time eating banh mi in Vietnam too. Anyway, when we arrived, Banh Mi Phuong was packed with people. I immediately sensed this wasn't a place where we could eat leisurely, so I rested on the street while my friend waited and waited to finally bring one back. 'Wow, passion for food can really manifest like this...' I marveled to myself. "You're my friend, but you're so reliable. I almost cried," I said with zero enthusiasm, and took a bite.
Wow! The banh mi here really is on another level. They definitely did something with sugar because it was so sweet and appetizing. And the bread wasn't hard like at other banh mi spots; it was incredibly soft. Because of that, the texture was great and it went down really smoothly. Banh mi is essentially just a sandwich, so you can get sick of it after a few times, but this is the kind of taste that makes you want more even when you're tired of it. First off, their style is armed with sweetness. It's not overwhelmingly sweet, just perfectly sweet enough to put you in a good mood. Usually, after eating one banh mi, you don't think about having a second, but with this one, I was actually sad when I finished it. Even with such high quality, the price is naturally cheap. I feel like foreigners would gladly eat this even if they charged 10,000 won, but it's only 1,000 to 2,000 won. Thanks to my friend who scoured all the blogs, I've been eating nothing but incredibly delicious food yesterday and today in Vietnam.
