After a long quest for the perfect banh mi, my efforts were, at last, rewarded by Viêt Citron, a little unassuming restaurant between a health care center and a furniture store. The menu features a variety of Vietnamese dishes, including pho noodle soups, rice bowls, and banh mis (a sandwich made of a baguette filled with cucumber, cilantro, pickled carrots, onions, and either pork, chicken, or beef, with mayonnaise). The recent inclusion of a brunch into their menu now allows me to write freely about Viêt Citron without straying away from the credo of this blog!

Despite its inherent simplicity, a good banh mi in the area remains difficult to find.While a leeway in its creation certainly exists, too much of it can adulterate the original recipe. That’s what I experienced in some rural regions of New Hampshire where, for example, the meat had been replaced by beef bologna or ham. Thankfully, the dishes at Viêt Citron don’t undergo such egregious alterations. On the contrary, their pork belly banh mi, for example, exhibited all the trademark ingredients of the original recipe, but the crispy and savory aspect of the meat considerably enriched it. Although my affinity for their banh mis prevails, I can attest that the rest of the menu is equally as flavorful.