I have been a big fan of banh mi, a Vietnamese-style sandwich, for years. And I'm so glad there's a great eatery in Shanghai that produces an amazing version. It's called B Real on Fumin Lu in Shanghai and it's one of my favourite spots for a quick lunch. There are only seven seats, so the place can get cramped, but you can take away. I love the counter with a streetside view. I try and count the crazy bicycle loads going past. I was too slow to take a shot of the old man today who was cycling with about 14 car tyres strapped to his bicycle. Crazy.
There are a lot of variations to a banh mi, but essentially it's a crunchy baguette filled with a heap of delicious fillings: pickled carrots and daikon, cucumber, coriander, red chilis, mayonnaise and some kind of meat. I usually prefer grilled chicken but over time, I've seen versions with roast pork, grilled pork, BBQ pork, steamed pork, pork belly, Vietnamese sausage or the super traditional version of cold cuts and a meat terrine (not my fave).
I used to eat at least once a week at my favourite place in Singapore (Baguette in the Market Street car park near Raffles Place) and at one stage, I ate it every day for lunch for a year when I lived in Sydney (Little Devil on Broadway in Glebe) but for my money, B Real comes up trumps. I think it's due to their deliciously crunchy-but-not-too-crunchy bread. They mix up the fillings a bit (Korean chicken, etc) but you can stay relatively traditional too if you want. That said, their serves are huge. You could easily share one sandwich between two.
185 Fumin Lu (near Changle Lu)
Open 11am-9pm
While I was chomping away at lunch, I thought about all the other delicious Asian dishes I love, so watch out for my next post: my Top 20 favourite Asian dishes....
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