Last Thursday I finally did the thing I'm always talking up: a proper Bloor Street bánh mì crawl. Three spots, three benchmarks, all within a couple of blocks of each other — Rustle & Still, then Bánh Mì Journey, then Lamhan Bánh Mì. Yohann, Rob and David went with me, and David even biked across town to get here, which raised the stakes considerably. I'm the one forever insisting these three places are the standard against which all bánh mì on earth should be measured. So they had to deliver. No pressure.
Here's the strategy, because you'll explode if you don't do this. At each stop we ordered two different sandwiches and asked them to cut each one into quarters. That way the four of us each got two quarters at every spot — half a sandwich a place, about a sandwich and a half total across the afternoon. It sounds fussy, but it's the perfect amount of lunch, especially once you factor in the walk between spots and the wait. And oh, the wait. These are bánh mì professionals, and every one of them takes their time. You have to be genuinely committed to do a crawl like this, so credit to Yohann, Rob and David for the grit. Thou shall not rush the preparation of a bánh mì.
Rustle & Still
A great sandwich, as always. The lemongrass chicken is so delicious, and the char siu pork was lovely too — the meat freshly cooked, the sauce tasty. But the truly noteworthy thing here is the pickled carrots and daikon, balanced against generous cilantro. Nobody does it like these guys. This is as good as it gets; none of the other spots on Bloor matched that crispy texture, tangy flavour, and generous volume. The only complaint was the bread, which wasn't bad but wasn't exactly fresh at 12:30 pm when we began our crawl. It's a good baguette, but Yohann — who's French, and therefore licensed to judge — said it wasn't great, and he's not wrong. Otherwise, a great start to the crawl.
Bánh Mì Journey
Next stop, Bánh Mì Journey, a two-minute ride down the block and on the opposite side of the street. Terrific once again. The red bun is their signature: warm, with a flaky crust and an airy, delicate bite. The colour comes from beet juice mixed into the dough, the guy is proud to explain. We started with the fried egg with pâté and meat floss. The egg was a bit bland this time, but the meat floss was a treat — it's like meat cotton candy, pork pulled down to its fibres, which sounds deeply weird when you try to describe it but adds a lovely texture against the soft egg and pâté. The sandwich needed a bit more zest though, more heat and more pickled carrots. Journey's carrots are chunkier than the other spots along Bloor, but also less flavourful and less crisp and fresh-feeling. A great sandwich nonetheless.
It was Rob's turn to choose the second sandwich, and he went with the betel leaf beef. They look like minced beef and fresh herb patties rolled into little tubes and wrapped in a betel leaf. I'd never had it before and really liked it. Yohann thought the flavour was nice but found it too much like a meatball sandwich — too meat-forward, overpowering everything else.
Lamhan Bánh Mì
Just across the street and a little down the block. We left the bikes where they were and walked over. We must have arrived right as a fresh batch of buns came out of the oven, because the place smelled like baking bread and it was intoxicating. We ordered a grilled chicken with peanut sauce and a barbecue pork, and split them three ways — David had to tap out and bike back across town. After a wait — not a crazy one, but by your third bánh mì in about an hour, the waiting does start to wear — two beautiful sandwiches arrived.
The bread here wins the day, and is honestly the MVP of the whole crawl. It's perfect on every level, confirmed by Yohann, who knows baguette: light, crusty, airy, good flavour, a gentle chew. The fillings were delicious too — freshly cooked, well sauced, if perhaps a touch over-sauced. The veggies did their job, adding freshness and crunch, though not as generous or as flavourful a portion as at Rustle & Still.
So, who's the winner?
A bánh mì crawl doesn't have to be a contest. The point is to enjoy each spot for the craft and character it brings to the table, and I'm so glad to have done this with friends so close to where I live. By that measure, I guess I'm the winner.
But who's the actual winner? Lamhan takes it for the complete package — high marks across the board. Bánh Mì Journey had the most interesting fillings, between the meat floss and the betel leaf beef. And Rustle & Still had the best pickled carrots and daikon I've come across — perhaps the best of anywhere I've reviewed on this blog. Three benchmarks, all living up to the hype. Bloor Street holds.
Verdict: The Benchmark.
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