Mario's Coffee Express, Mix the Bakery, Viet Sub Vietnamese Cuisine

It's a 3 in 1 sandwich special!
One thing everyone should know about me is I love a good sandwich. More than burgers (which just leave you feeling heavy), more than pizza (which seem to be nothing but screwups around here)-- sandwiches are where it's at. It's very difficult to mess up a sandwich.

And since I decided to go out and about and away from campus as much as possible for the past week or so, I've also been picking up sandwiches everywhere I go. Thus, my 3 in 1 sandwich special.

Lets save the best for last, and go in the order I visited these eateries, yus?

Mario's Coffee Express

I'm going to keep it short and sweet. Mostly because I want to get to the really good stuff.
So, Mario's Coffee Express first. Hm. What can I say. Honestly, I only stopped by there because it was beside the place we were getting our hair done (by our, I refer to my sister and I). They have a sign claiming the best coffee, and while I can't hardly judge the coffee, as I 1. am more of a tea person and 2. didn't have any, I can talk about their sandwiches.

Fresca Vegetarian Panini -- Marinated grilled vegetables, artichokes, seasonal greens, swiss cheese, feta cheese may and basil pesto  ... $8.95, for this? Really? The sandwich was tiny. Hearty;; but tiny. To give a comparison... my hand is larger.
And I'm 5'0 asian girl. So.
And if you look at the menu above, it says add a $1 to share... what does that even mean? You pay an extra dollar for them to cut it in half?
I mean, it was good. Like I said, it's very hard to screw up a sandwich. Especially when there is a plentiful amount of cheese. Too bad they couldn't get all the cheese to really melt;; Lots of artichokes were good though. Bread that had a nice crust on the outside which kept even after cooling, dense and chewy on the inside which was also good, but really not worth the cash.
The owner was nice though. We chatted about ungodly work hours. Apparently he gets there at 5:30am to get there to open! Oh my..



Mix the Bakery

I've been passing by Mix the Bakery time and time again, always at the wrong moment. I would have just eaten lunch, or it would be closed.. and for whatever the reason, despite it being as close as it is to UBC, I just hadn't tried it until now.

So I was very happy when I found a day off to go grab a sandwich here. Really. I loved the atmosphere of this place. And I really. really. wanted to love their food. I ordered the Chimayo Chicken sandwich -- chicken breast, jack cheese, tomato, spinach, avocado, cilantro mayo on sourdough.(6.95) as per the cashiers recommendation. Larger and cheaper than the sandwich at Mario's. But in terms of taste? I think I rather go for Mario's.

It's not that this was bad... The sourdough bread was very nicely crispy, there was a hearty amount of chicken breast (although the chicken itself was a little tasteless), wonderfully melted amount of cheese (unlike Mario's)... but perhaps it was personal taste. I wasn't a fan of their chili mayo. It just didn't strike well with me. Nothing special. I think I would have rather tried their Turkey sandwich, as I was craving a sweet note, and the cranberries in the bread would have hit it... alas. Maybe next time.
I also would have preferred more vegetables.
And-- do you see the half of the sandwich underneath the top one? There were no grill marks. It was crispy, but no grill marks. I wonder how that happens;; The other side of that same sandwich had grill marks, so I found it a little strange.. On top of that, compared to other pictures I've seen, mine was under grilled D: I did not like this..

So overall good, but as with Mario's, disappointed. I'll want to go back to try the turkey sandwich and some of the their baked goods though.



Viet Sub Vietnamese Cuisine


Okay. I lied. I want to talk a lot about this one. Forget short and sweet. The previous two were short and sweet. This one gets words.
Why? Because this little eatery here was like a bloody enlightenment. Yes it was, yes it was.
Previous to my visit to Viet Sub Vietnamese Cuisine, I had never tried a banh mi. The other food bloggers always went on and on about them, but I personally didn't find the pictures especially appetizing. It was just a sub. Whats so special? And the ingredient assortment? Huh.

Yet, the recommendations for banh mi stuck in my mind, especially for this one place on Robson.
When I was walking towards the Downtown library to get some research done, I walked right by this place at first. I mean, it looks dingy and completely unassuming, does it not? But then I paused. I remembered the mention of a Banh Mi shop on Robson. I stopped. I took a double take. Took a step back to see the awning, looked up, and bam!

*cue sound of angels and music and all that jazz*.. Okay, so it's a bad picture, but suiting, no? Like I said, it was an enlightenment.

I rushed in. The place was tiny. But I wasted no time, I knew what I wanted to order. In hindsight, I probably should have taken a look at the specials board. But there was no time. ENLIGHTENMENT WAS WAITING.
The man at the till appeared very kindly, and gave a friendly smile when he saw me taking pictures. I guess he's familiar with the food bloggers and critics;; haha... I ordered the BBQ Sub --pork, beef, chicken, meat ball ($4.25), and waited for my first taste of banh mi.

Before I go on, I also want to mention that they served very hot tea while I was waiting in my cramped little corner of the restaurant. Despite the fact that there is almost no obligation to tip because it's not quite a sit down eatery, I found the service here genuine and nice, even during the lunch rush. Would almost go back for the service alone.

But, no need to depend on the service to get me back, because wow. This sandwich.
Wow.
Let me break it down:

bread: crispy crispy outside that gave way to a flurry of crumbs on my first bite, airy inside. Not too dense.
vegetables: fresh, bright, heavenly. Onions, daikon, carrots, cilantro. While I'm sure this is standard for every banh mi, these veggies had a real crunch.
meat: okay. So I couldn't tell one meat from the other. I was too busy wolfing it down. But it brought in a good heartiness. Perhaps there could have been a little more.
sauce: I think this is what really made the sub special. I know it's been described as a bbq sauce, but I felt that it carried the flavour of peanut... am I crazy? No matter, it really differentiated the sub from any other sandwiches I've tried. And I'm sure it does the same against other banh mi's. 

I'd also like to mention that this sandwich proves that sandwiches can still taste amazing without cheese. Yes they can.

The man that was at the till was heading outside for a moment, asked me how it was and advised me to try it with the sauce on the counter. When I asked him what it was, he only said it was a special mix of four sauces and smiled. So I gave it a try. I was only meaning to try it once (saucing everything up is not the healthiest thing to do), but the combination of sweet and savoury had me reaching for the bottle multiple times (hm. or was it sweet and savoury? Honestly, I was enjoying myself too much. All I know is it was good).
Went through this sandwich way too fast. I wish I could describe it more. The brightness of the cilantro, the savouryness of the sauce. Alas, before I could really analyze it, the sandwich was gone D: I only wish there was more filling so I would have been forced to slow down.

So, banh mi virgin no longer, and I understand now. This sandwich is special.
I saw banh mi being sold at TNT before this, and wanted to give them a try, but I'm glad I waited. Where you get these subs is important. It's the freshness of the ingredients, the warmth and crispyness of the bread.
Maybe I'm overemphasizing how good this sub was. Perhaps the other banh mi shops (au petit cafe?) serve better ones. I wouldn't know.
I do know however that this sandwich tasted good. Especially in comparison to the other two sandwiches I had that week.

So if you have not tried a banh mi yet, I urge you to go get one.