The elusive bánh mì of Government Street
Offset has mastered smoked meats. They are the center of the best Vietnamese sandwich.
In the kingdom of sandwiches—and it is a kingdom with royalty and fierce regional loyalists—the bánh mì belongs near the top. Right there with the muffuletta, the BLT, the grilled cheese and the Philly cheesesteak.
Which makes what happens some Saturdays at Offset Smoker worth your attention.
Offset Smoker doesn't keep its bánh mì on the daily menu. The sandwich takes too much time and too much fuss to make every day, so owner Hue Pham serves it only when he can do it right.
He makes the French bread himself. He smokes the meats. We hear he even churns the butter.
Pham has served the sandwich with brisket before, but the two versions he returns to are grilled pork and pork belly, with the latter indecently rich. Add cucumber, cilantro and fresh jalapeños, and you have a bánh mì that is among the best in the country.
The catch: Because it's not served on a schedule, you have to check the restaurant's Instagram feed, risking missing it altogether. Your odds improve at NightMarket BTR on Saturday, May 30, where Offset is expected to serve the sandwiches—reportedly with Offset's own pâté, which is the sort of detail that makes sandwich people lose composure.
Offset Smoker serves Texas-style barbecue at 5335 Government Street. Its regular hours are Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
—Mukul Verma
