There is a Vietnamese restaurant in the West Village that makes me laugh. I'm not entirely sure if it's the menu items named "Pho Real" and "Pho Sure," or if it's the wall of painted ladies flashing side boob, but I'm amused whenever I'm there. It is casual, it is cheap, and most importantly, I enjoy my meal every time. Fo'real.
According to their website, Baoguette is a chain of Vietnamese sandwich shops (though I'm under the impression some of their locations have closed). The location we are discussing today, Baoguette/Pho Sure, is a sit-down restaurant with a take-out counter and a couple two-tops up front. You may therefore sit in a banquette under draped fabric hiding the air duct by the kitchen, or you may check yourself out in the mirrored wall as you wait for your order by the door. Either way, you'll end up with some flavorful food. Fo'sure.
Menu items include a green papaya salad ($6), sticky rice (with barbecue chicken, chinese sausage, scallion and peanuts, $8), various noodle dishes ($8-$13), and of course, the aforementioned Pho Real and Pho Sure (beef soups, $8). The expected spring and summer rolls are also available ($6-$8), as are multiple sandwich options (like spicy catfish, sloppy bao, and a couple vegetarian choices, $6-$8). My personal favorite is the "Baoguette Classic Banh Mi Sandwich," which is pate, pork, pickled daikon, carrots, cucumber, and cilantro on a warm homemade baguette, though I ask that the cilantro be omitted. (Hey, the Food Network's Barefoot Contessa, Ina Garten, would do the same...because she doesn't like cilantro...or so she mentioned once...I think). You have the option of mild, medium, or spicy, and your answer determines how much Sriracha hot sauce is added. I implore you not to do what my sister did, cherished reader, which was douse her appetizer in Sriracha and then order her sandwich "spicy." That proved to be a sweaty mishap after which she never tasted anything again. Ok, not fo'real, but it was an intense lunch she will likely never repeat.
While you are dining, you might satisfy your thirst with grass jelly soy milk or young coconut juice. I tend to prefer Vietnamese iced coffee with its sweetened condensed milk, but you do you.
Go to Baoguette/Pho Sure when you want an inexpensive dinner in a relatively quiet space, as you rarely have to wait for a table. Otherwise, head over for take-out at lunch when the restaurant tends to be busier. As you wait for your meal, try guessing the age of the older woman who sometimes makes the sandwiches behind the front counter - I think she's 106. Fo'sure.
Baoguette/Pho Sure - 120 Christopher Street, between Bedford & Bleecker Streets
According to their website, Baoguette is a chain of Vietnamese sandwich shops (though I'm under the impression some of their locations have closed). The location we are discussing today, Baoguette/Pho Sure, is a sit-down restaurant with a take-out counter and a couple two-tops up front. You may therefore sit in a banquette under draped fabric hiding the air duct by the kitchen, or you may check yourself out in the mirrored wall as you wait for your order by the door. Either way, you'll end up with some flavorful food. Fo'sure.
Menu items include a green papaya salad ($6), sticky rice (with barbecue chicken, chinese sausage, scallion and peanuts, $8), various noodle dishes ($8-$13), and of course, the aforementioned Pho Real and Pho Sure (beef soups, $8). The expected spring and summer rolls are also available ($6-$8), as are multiple sandwich options (like spicy catfish, sloppy bao, and a couple vegetarian choices, $6-$8). My personal favorite is the "Baoguette Classic Banh Mi Sandwich," which is pate, pork, pickled daikon, carrots, cucumber, and cilantro on a warm homemade baguette, though I ask that the cilantro be omitted. (Hey, the Food Network's Barefoot Contessa, Ina Garten, would do the same...because she doesn't like cilantro...or so she mentioned once...I think). You have the option of mild, medium, or spicy, and your answer determines how much Sriracha hot sauce is added. I implore you not to do what my sister did, cherished reader, which was douse her appetizer in Sriracha and then order her sandwich "spicy." That proved to be a sweaty mishap after which she never tasted anything again. Ok, not fo'real, but it was an intense lunch she will likely never repeat.
While you are dining, you might satisfy your thirst with grass jelly soy milk or young coconut juice. I tend to prefer Vietnamese iced coffee with its sweetened condensed milk, but you do you.
Go to Baoguette/Pho Sure when you want an inexpensive dinner in a relatively quiet space, as you rarely have to wait for a table. Otherwise, head over for take-out at lunch when the restaurant tends to be busier. As you wait for your meal, try guessing the age of the older woman who sometimes makes the sandwiches behind the front counter - I think she's 106. Fo'sure.
Baoguette/Pho Sure - 120 Christopher Street, between Bedford & Bleecker Streets
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