In my culinary travels this week with Foodie Friend #2, the banh mi sandwich I had at Bun Me in Northridge was so yummy, it gave Colonialism a good name. Vietnamese flavors in a French roll; what’s not to love? Two cultures perfectly meshed. Crispy, bright vegetables with a soupcon of heat and spice and a melange of pork fabrications (including pate) on crunchy, crusty bread with soft innards to soak up the sweet/vinegary dressing of the main event. Perfection!

Less perfect: the brisket pho. (That’s fuh, not fo, by the way. I learned that from my well-travelled niece.) The broth was quite lovely and subtly redolent of cinnamon. The noodles were slippery and plentiful. It’s brisket. On its own it can make me swoon, but added to otherwise perfectly complete dishes, it becomes gray meat. Check out Hugo’s brisket eggs Benedict for confirmation on this. Or better yet, don’t and just take my word.

Nevertheless, I would absolutely try Bun Me’s other renditions of pho sometime, because they really seem to know their way around Vietnamese food, but most likely I’ll just keep going back for that banh mi. Ooh lala!

Logistical note: Bun Me is primarily a take-out operation for CSUN students, so don’t go expecting many seating options.