An Choi

Doing a number on Vietnamese street food.

The stencils on the walls, common throughout Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, are phone numbers for Vietnamese handymen. (If you have a generous long-distance plan, feel free to give a call, but to build their new, snug backyard patio, An Choi's owners wisely relied on local labor.) Also common in Vietnam, but little celebrated in New York: pho ga (below; $9), a fragrant rendition of the long-simmered chicken noodle soup. The herb plate includes not only lime, Thai basil, and jalapeño but also culantro, cilantro's stronger-scented but lesser-known cousin. (It's not clearly visible below, but at the restaurant you'll recognize the "saw-leaf herb" immediately.) A bowl of pho, also available in beef ($9.50), is generous but not massive.

At first, the banh mi ($6.50 to $8) make a more sparing impression, but fillings like engagingly chewy headcheese (in the first sandwich below) and luxuriant crisp roast pig (below that) are top-notch and gratifying. Small plates like cool salad rolls with shrimp and pork (not shown; $5), crispy crab and pork rolls ($5.50), and a cabbage and tofu salad (not shown; $6.50) — with prawn crackers that snap, crackle, and pop in the dressing — are also prepared with precision.

Vietnamese coffee (not shown; $2.50) is available iced but better hot; dripped into the cup atop a seam of condensed milk, it's a fine stand-in for dessert. How you stir things up is up to you.

An Choi
85 Orchard St. (Broome-Grand Sts.)
212-991-9880

Comments

[Jane]

Why is it so much more expensive than the Chinatown Viet joints? Is it worth the difference?

[Dave Cook]

Part of the An Choi's prices are owing to the neighborhood; you'd expect higher rent on Orchard St. than on Mott St. Part is the setting; indoor seating is a consideration, too, especially on a rainy day like today. And part is the ingredients; in a heads-up comparison between An Choi's banh mi dac biet (the headcheesy "special combo"; $6.50) and your favorite sandwich from, say, Banh Mi Saigon Bakery (which I'm also fond of), you'll notice a difference. For me, on some days that's worth the extra expense, but I'll continue to patronize my favorite bargain banh mi joints, too.