Banh You, Banh Mi Review: Halal Vietnamese Sandwiches With Rendang Filling At Suntec

Think about Vietnam and images of drip coffee, hearty bowls of pho, and toasty banh mi come to mind. Introduced to baguette during the French colonial rule, Vietnamese slowly incorporated the bread to their local cuisine. This toasty bread is stuffed with a mix of grilled meat and pickled vegetables, making it a great meal on-the-go.

The idea of Banh You, Banh Mi! was first thought of by his Vietnamese wife, and her idea was later conceptualised into a halal banh mi stall by him and his business partner. This banh mi joint’s menu echoes its spirit of serving traditional banh mi, where they’ve collaborated with a Vietnamese baker to serve fresh, house-made baguettes. Besides classic Vietnamese flavours, they in addition serve a range of local flavours such as Rendang Beef ($7.50) .

With a generous serving of tender beef rendang sandwiched in a crisp baguette, this thick banh mi involved some jaw workout. The heavenly aroma of curry spices gave a preview of rich beefy and coconut flavours to come.

Turn up the heat with their Butter Chicken ($7.50) . The bright red and orange hues of this sandwich double up as a warning sign for the thunderous waves of spiciness that will take over your taste buds.

The browned baguette is loaded with a wildly aromatic chicken filling that’s redolent with star anise and cinnamon. The spicy chicken chunks were slightly numbing on my tongue, but the tartness from the pickled carrots and cucumbers helped to cut through this heat.

Besides chicken, the savoury filling had potato cubes which soaked up the marinade’s robust flavours. Its popularity isn’t stopping anytime soon, and this is evident in Banh You, Banh Mi!’s Salted Egg Chicken ($7.50) .

The sandwich is stuffed with a liberal amount of creamy chicken chunks glistening in all of its golden salted egg glory. Don’t spend too much time sniffing the fragrant scent of curry leaves and salted egg, lest the velvety filling dries up. It seems like rich flavours are a running theme across their sandwiches, as this banh mi was jam-packed with robust savoury flavours.

Thankfully I ordered a combo, where topping up $2.40 scored me a much-needed drink to quench my thirst and my choice of spring rolls . The fresh rolls come in two flavours, chicken and shrimp . As a hole-in-the-wall joint at Suntec City, this casual eatery is rather easy to miss.

The verdict Most places tend to force-fit two distinct cuisines together, but this joint has managed to marry local flavours with classic Vietnamese street food.