A sandwich at Sidewalk Street Food, a bánh mì shop in Berkeley, California.
out of 100 · excellent
Excellent. Small moves left on the board.
A banh mi with layers outside the form; five of six roles.
Holding the summit: a focused, restrained build
More salt than 90% of the catalog.
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.
banh mi, served cold: Ham; Chả Lụa (Vietnamese pork roll); Cucumber; Onion; Jalapeño; Cilantro; Pâté (pork liver); Mayonnaise; Maggi Seasoning Sauce.
Worth a look: rare in the Bay Area (5 or fewer shops): Maggi Seasoning Sauce.
Balance
| Axis | Value | Catalog percentile |
|---|---|---|
| salt | 2.2 | 90th |
| acid | 0.5 | 47th |
| fat | 2.1 | 48th |
| sweet | 0.4 | 57th |
| umami | 2.6 | 90th |
| heat | 0.2 | 68th |
| bitter | 0.3 | 81st |
83 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| banh miscored as Bánh Mì Baguette (rice-flour blend) | bread | crispy soft flaky | the frame |
| Ham | protein | salt 4 umami 4 fat 3 soft silky tender | −3 |
| Chả Lụa (Vietnamese pork roll) | protein | umami 4 salt 3 fat 2 springy soft tender | −4 |
| Cucumber | bulk | crunchy juicy fresh | −3 |
| Onion | texture | sweet 2 crunchy juicy fresh | −2 |
| Jalapeño | texture | heat 4 crunchy fresh raw | −2 |
| Cilantro | aromatic | bitter 2 soft fresh herbal | −2 |
| Pâté (pork liver) | protein | fat 5 umami 4 salt 3 creamy silky | −6 |
| Mayonnaise | sauce | fat 5 acid 2 creamy saucy | 0 |
| Maggi Seasoning Sauce | sauce | salt 5 umami 5 saucy 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
- Ham + Chả Lụa (Vietnamese pork roll): the cubano's double pork, cured over roasted
- Chả Lụa (Vietnamese pork roll) + Pâté (pork liver): the dac biet's pork roll and liver, one charcuterie
- Jalapeño + Cilantro: banh mi brightwork: green heat and herb
- Cilantro + Pâté (pork liver): cilantro over rich pate, the banh mi finish
How to raise it
- Between you and 90: a focused, restrained build (0.01 short).
All the sandwiches at Sidewalk Street Food · The menu this was read from · Build your own in the Sandwich Builder