Bếp Việt, Falls Church, Virginia

You remember Doug Herbert, our Senior South Mississippi, Offal, and Vietnamese Correspondent, from our recent joint visits to Rice Paper and Trường Tiền. Here’s his photo from his post on Frankin Barbecue.

During our recent cold wet winter, Doug and I discussed trying some banh mi, the Vietnamese long sandwich, or sub, in the area. We put it off because leading banh mi sources don’t offer indoor seating. We eventually picked a date and places to try, and Doug worked out the order of places to try. We made the plan when the weather was gorgeous, back before the abrupt and ferocious arrival of summer. We decided to persevere and pick up four sandwiches at three different spots, Bếp Việt, Ba Le, and DC Banh Mi, and to eat the sandwiches at Doug’s house, convenient to the major commercial areas of the Washington area’s large Vietnamese population, where we were joined by the lovely and forbearing Tony.

Our first stop was Bếp Việt, which occupies a spot in a small shopping center at 2300 Annandale Road.

Unlike the other spots we visited, Bếp Việt is a full service restaurant, nicely decorated,

with an extensive menu

and a full bar.

It’s an attractive and warm setting for a meal. I’ve heard from several individuals that it’s the best Vietnamese restaurant in the area, which is saying something given the size of the local Vietnamese population. Similarly, Bếp Việt’s banh mi received rave reviews from Steve of Hungry Onion fame, and neither of us had tried it.

After some dithering, we ordered the shaky beef banh mi, shown here all dressed with lots of cilantro, carrots, cucumber, and other vegetables — and cut in thirds by the restaurant.

Here’s a side view.

First the bread, the foundation of the sandwich. As you can see, it was a baguette, and a very fine baguette, one of the truly great platforms for a sandwich.

The shaky beef had a good flavor — and a lot of it — with that bit of sweetness that marks so many Vietnamese dishes. There was a good balance among the elements of the sandwich, both in terms of flavors and textures. I enjoyed it quite a bit.

I probably would have enjoyed it more had I consulted Steve’s Hungry Onion post and ordered one of the versions over which he waxed poetic, the grilled pork or meatballs or sardines. (Sardines? Long ago I dined off tinned sardines and saltines now and then — still do — and I’m having some difficulty conceptualizing a sardine banh mi.) While I enjoyed the sandwich, and loved the bread, I don’t feel my choice did justice to Bếp Việt. Their banh mi cost about 15 dollars, give or take, which is about twice the norm of sandwich shops, but an average price for sandwiches in the DC area. I’ll have to go back to try one of Steve’s favorites — or your favorite. Actually, I’d especially like to go back for dinner. Please share your advice on what I should order.

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