The sandwich has come a long way since John Montague, the Fourth Earl of Sandwich, ordered his valet to bring him a piece of salt beef tucked between two slices of bread. Classics like the Reuben, the Philly Cheese Steak, and the Subway have long been common parlance in American culture. Chien Le, founder of Lee’s Sandwiches restaurant chain, seeks to add another to the list: the "banh mi."
With 19 restaurants now in operation or development, serving fast, inexpensive, and tasty food, Le just may succeed. The Bay Area is home to eight of these restaurants – just head towards the colossal floating bag of baguettes in the sky, looking remarkably like a super-sized order of french fries, and you’re sure to find one. They are anchored atop most of the newer stores.
The Vietnamese "banh mi" sandwich is to Lee’s Sandwiches what the hamburger is to McDonald’s. Banh mi starts with a baguette the length of your forearm, filled with cold slices of BBQ pork, chicken, ham, or paté, pickled daikon radish, carrot, mayonnaise, onion, jalapeno, cilantro, salt, and pepper. Most are $2. The grilled chicken sandwich is excellent – the chicken has been marinated in soya and blends perfectly with the pickled radishes and carrots. Less unique are the "European Sandwiches" (as Lee’s dubs those which are more familiar to American palates), which come in different turkey/ham/roast beef and cheese combinations on a baguette or croissant for $3.50.
The counter holds a motley crew of "to go" foods on plastic trays, like shrimp-and-pork rolls and tofu-and-veggie rolls, which are wrapped in rice paper and include a sweet peanut dipping sauce. Shiny happy workers are on hand to explain the more unusual fare, like the sticky coconut rice, which is colored bright green or orange, and sticky rice- wrapped bananas, where bananas have an unusual pink tint. Thumb-sized shrimp-and-yam rolls are deep-fried (3 for $1).
Longer than the list of sandwiches is the selection of drinks. There is Lee’s special Café, filtered French coffee with condensed milk served iced or hot, fresh sugar cane juice, and a host of curious smoothies, like carrot smoothie and soursop smoothie (an exotic fruit with a custard-like center).
A steam table filled with a kaleidoscopic assortment of soupy looking desserts provides a fun finish to your meal. Each dessert is served in a bowl and topped with coconut milk syrup. Try the unusual tapioca-stuffed mung bean dessert or a banana dessert afloat in white tapioca pudding. Many desserts are bean-based, like the kidney bean dessert or black-eyed bean dessert. If the thought of eating beans for dessert worries you, you can ask for samples, enthusiastically doled out by servers who just know you will love it. Desserts are $1.25 each, or you can buy two and get a third free.
There’s lots of food to be had here for pocket change, so go wild.