If you love strips of gelatinous, head-cheese-like substances and grayish-tan, pork liver-loaf-like lunch meat on your sandwiches – and let’s face it who doesn’t? – then you need to high tail it over to Nhu Lan Restaurant and Karaoke Bar on Spring Mountain Road.
There you will find what our uber-food-writer-friend Grace Bascos declares are the best banh mi (Vietnamese-French sandwiches) in town. Gracie considers them tops in a field that isn’t exactly crowded, but the Bascoses are….like all Filipino and sh*t…so…uh…she like…uh…knows from her banh mi dude!*
Hue Thai’s Famous French Sandwiches (that are neither Thai nor French nor all that famous) is Nhu Lan’s only competition, and from what my limited palate tells me, Nhu Lan nudges past Hue Thai’s on the basis of better, crispier bread and slightly better processed protein products. But of course, expecting a half-Greek, 1/4 Irish, 1/4 German guy from Danbury, Connecticut to intelligently appraise Vietnamese food is like asking a Carolina pitmaster to expound on sushi.
There are two things Nhu Lan has going for it. One, is that its banh mi are cheap. Actually, all banh mi are cheap. That’s because when you fill fluffy, imitation French bread with cheap (and we mean cheap) lunchmeat-like substances, your overhead will be lower than Subway’s. And from the looks of some of those meat-like, sliced products, I’d say most of them have the shelf life of a B-52.**
The other plus is a giant karaoke stage dominating one end of the restaurant. ELV is hardly an expert in such things, but this is no open-mike-with-a-cheesy-karaoke-machine kind of place. The elevated stage has multiple mikes, instrument stands, fancy signage and professional (or semi-professional) lighting – to allow those of limited talents to better bask in their own glow. So if watching a bunch of atonal Asians (and atonal non-Asians) crooning off-key is your thing, this appears to be the real deal in semi-fake singing. Which might be the perfect compliment to the semi-fake food that goes into the sandwiches.
And don’t overlook the added bonus of having not one but TWO massage parlors in the very same shopping center to relieve your stress and supply you with a happy ending if your evening of $3 sandwiches and being serenaded by guys like this, wasn’t all you hoped it would be.
NHU LAN VIETNAMESE/CHINESE CUISINE
4300 Spring Mountain Road #101
Las Vegas, NV 89102
702.253.9699
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
* I’m not making fun of Grace, just the way she talks.
** 56 years and counting
Ban mi, karaoke and a happy ending? Are they interested in franchising? If so count me in. This could be the best business plan I have ever heard of.
Superb Michele my belle! I’ll draw up the papers.
Dear Mr. Curtas,
When I told you Nhu Lan had the best banh mi (note the spelling, please… that’s right, I’m going there), I likely should have also told you that even -I- stay away from the mystery Vietnamese pate. That’s not to say I don’t enjoy my processed liver meats: a) I am Filipino after all, and b) how do you think the French make pate?
Perhaps the next time the banh mi urge strikes (and it will), may I suggest you try it with the more recognizable grilled pork, meatball or sardines (no, I can’t stay way from canned proteins. it’s a problem, I know).
The grilled pork banh mi at Nhu Lan is a wonder — slightly sweet and smoky grilled pork, paired with the cool crunch of pickled vegetables and heat of sliced jalapenos, tucked into a warm, crisp baguette? What’s not to like?
Or better yet, next time, I’ll come along and order for you.
Additionally, Mr. Curtas, the only time I ever talk like that is after I’ve been drinking with YOU for too many hours.
Pinay ’til I die,
Grace Bascos
I have to say – I’ve eaten with both of you a lot – and if you are going to Nhu Lan again – I want in on that action. Grace and I went and my only complaint was that they didn’t have any Chinese beer…or Japanese beer or any beer other than Heineken, Corona and Miller Lite. I went with the Heineken and it worked just fine.
But the sandwiches (both the pork and the mystery-meatball) were outstanding. The bread both crispy and chewy and the sauce, if you call it that, perfectly applied to the filling. The stir-fry of pork and shrimp in fish sauce was also great and combined some of my favorite things: sweet, spicy and salty.
I think I smell a lunch date soon…
Ban mi or banh mi, it’s all Greek to me.
Lunch soon with the bodda yuze!
And thanks for the posts….Valley Filipino Gal and uber-p.r. dude!
I