A sandwich at Mango & Mint, a bánh mì shop in Alameda, California.
out of 100 · outstanding
Outstanding, and the road to 90 is open.
Reads as a fully realized banh mi, six of six roles on the board.
Each bar is one pillar of the score, 0 to 100. The tick marks what a sandwich at the summit needs; an amber bar is the one holding this sandwich back.
toasted vietnamese baguette, toasted: spicy chicken; housemade mayo (house-made); cucumber; cilantro; soy sauce; jalapeno; pickled carrot and daikon.
Worth a look: house-made: Mayonnaise.
Balance
| Axis | Value | Catalog percentile |
|---|---|---|
| salt | 1.5 | 72nd |
| acid | 1.4 | 86th |
| fat | 1.2 | 17th |
| sweet | 0.4 | 57th |
| umami | 1.5 | 50th |
| heat | 0.2 | 68th |
| bitter | 0.2 | 63rd |
98 Balance, out of 100
The seven flavor axes of the whole sandwich, each summed across its layers. The shaded ring is the catalog's middle 80%; the small number under each axis is where this sandwich falls in the catalog. A shape that sits inside the ring is in the range most sandwiches live in; a spike past it is where this one stands apart.
What each layer brings
| Layer | Role | Flavor and texture | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| toasted vietnamese baguettescored as Bánh Mì Baguette (rice-flour blend) | bread | crispy soft flaky | the frame |
| spicy chickenscored as Chicken | protein | umami 3 fat 2 juicy chewy tender | +16 |
| housemade mayo (house-made)scored as Mayonnaise | sauce | fat 5 acid 2 creamy saucy | +6 |
| cucumber | bulk | crunchy juicy fresh | 0 |
| cilantro | aromatic | bitter 2 soft fresh herbal | +1 |
| soy saucescored as Maggi Seasoning Sauce | sauce | salt 5 umami 5 saucy wet | −2 |
| jalapenoscored as Jalapeño | texture | heat 4 crunchy fresh raw | +1 |
| pickled carrot and daikonscored as Đồ Chua (pickled daikon + carrot) | acid | acid 5 salt 2 sweet 2 crunchy pickled wet | +5 |
Points: what the Sandwich Score would lose if that one layer were left out, everything else the same. A negative number means the sandwich scores higher without it. Flavor runs 0 to 5 on each axis.
Pairings
- Chicken + Jalapeño: green heat wakes mild chicken
- Chicken + Đồ Chua (pickled daikon + carrot): fried chicken's pickle law holds cold too
- Cilantro + Jalapeño: banh mi brightwork: green heat and herb
All the sandwiches at Mango & Mint · The menu this was read from · Build your own in the Sandwich Builder