Nhu Lan
2612 West Lawrence Avenue
Chicago, IL
It’s been a while since we wrote a review, so we figured we’d update you on one of our ongoing quests: the search for the best banh mi in Chicago. Much like pizza places and hotdog joints, everyone in Chicago has a favorite bahn mi place. “Banh mi” is the Vietnamese name for airy baguette-like bread, and is also synonymous with the iconic sandwich with meat and pickled veggies. Previously, our favorite stalwart was Ba Le – the combination of location, price and quality couldn’t be beat. However, Nhu Lan has been on our radar for a while and is frequently named as the top bahn mi spot in the city, so we had to try it.
High-tech digital menus at Nhu Lan!
There are now two locations of Nhu Lan, but we visited the original location on Lawrence. Though Nhu Lan is mainly a walk-up counter, there are also a nice array of baked goods, smoothies and takeout items (including takeout drinks with colorful characters, as seen below). Much like many of the other banh mi places in town, Nhu Lan presents all of its banh mi options on a large menu, and it also features a buy-5-get-1-free deal. The prices are all below $5 for a sandwich, a typical bahn mi steal. Though we took our sandwiches to go, there is a small sitting area inside.
Roast pork banh mi – with a generous helping of cilantro.
The selection of sandwiches contains all of what you would usually expect, but there are also a few more unique items like a vegan lemongrass tofu banh mi. We ordered the roast pork, the shredded pork and our go-to, the lemongrass chicken. The lemongrass chicken was well-seasoned but a little fatty. We were warned against the shredded pork by the server because she said “Americans don’t usually like it,” and we have to admit the little julienned strips of skin were not our favorite. The roast pork however, was excellent. We also appreciated the full cucumber spear, the light pickled daikon and carrot slaw and the generous helping of cilantro. Nhu Lan also bakes its own bread and you can buy the delightfully fresh baguettes right in store (check out the rack of bread in the photo above).
Thanks, we did!
So how did Nhu Lan stack up in the banh mi battle? The bread at Nhu Lan was a hands-down winner, but we slightly prefered the meat fillings at Ba Le. On the other hand we liked the cucumber spear at Nhu Lan and the fact that they didn’t use any mayonnaise. We also appreciated the cases of smoothies, salads and desserts, as well as the wide variety of baked goods and dessert items. While we can see why Nhu Lan is a favorite, we’ll probably stick to the more convenient Ba Le.
Eating The World 