Bun Me Baguette

By Andy Monday May 28, 2012

“What does a fish say when it hits a wall?” “Dam!” If it’s one thing I hate, it’s a bad pun. When I hear one, I will generally groan and shake my head physically or verbally. To me, it’s like a bad joke: how long did it take you to come up with it? What is the purpose for your horrific statement? Why did you feel it necessary to tell me something so excruciatingly lame? That said, I do appreciate a good play on words, especially if they transcend numerous cultural or language barriers. One could say this about the naming behind Bun Me Baguette, a food-cart specializing in the popular Vietnamese subs known as banh mis.

For whatever reason, I clearly thought that taking this photo on a strange angle would add some kind of artistic edge while maintaining discretion at the time.They could be found on the busy corner of Robson and Hornby (question, is that block now pedestrian only again? Sigh.) although, as a cart, they are mobile.

Their major specialties are the lemongrass chicken and tofu. On this occasion, I ordered the BBQ lemongrass chicken ($4.91). The sandwich also contained rich mayo, cucumber, cilantro, and, my personal favourites, pickled carrots and daikons. This is certainly a fairly good value, and Bun Me could thus be labelled as one of the more inexpensive food carts. It could furthermore be seen as one of the faster ones, as it requires less deep-frying and other such extensive preparation techniques.

As I too had to be mobile at the time, I did not do a proper dissection of this banh mi prior to its consumption. I could also use a manicure, it seems. In any case, if you look closely, you can see the star of the show, the chicken, hiding slyly within the core of the baguette. The meat was indeed tasty and juicy, with a lemongrass flavour that would sometimes permeate through the other competing tastes. The vegetables also tasted rather fresh, with the pickled varieties having a pleasant sour taste. The baguette was somewhat on the tougher side, but it did not overpower the other ingredients.

Overall, Bun Me is undoubtedly convenient and fast for a food cart. My one complaint was that the sandwich isn’t exactly the most filling out there, but I’m not sure if I can expect it to really. Conversely, I know that I do tire of your typical North American sandwich from time to time, so a banh mi cart is certainly a welcome addition to the scene. What isn’t, however, is another bad pun. If you’ve seen this cart roaming around…