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| august 2015 zhongxiao shop |
Thick slices of bbq chicken, slightly sweet mayonnaise, pickled radishes, carrots and cucumbers in a toasted chewy yet crusty french loaf. I was so ravenous that I tore into the chicken sandwich as soon as I got home. I wanted to try the newly opened Lee's Sandwiches, but it was a bit far me in the Taipei Main Station neighborhood. So I went with something familiar- the chicken banh mi (NT$160) from Yue Yuan. Except this time it came with tomato. I love tomatoes so I didn't mind it was a bit different than I remember it, but the flavors, chicken and bread were the same as the one that that I've had over the years and fell in love with at first bite years ago.
Savoy is also known as Yue Yuan (their Chinese name), but a few years ago they went through some rebranding and now the shops sport bright orange signs saying SAVOY instead of the original yellow and black signs that had their chinese name 越苑 and in English, the word "pho." Their pho is still solid, as are their dry rice noodles, but I love their sandwiches for a quick bite on the go.
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| feb 2015 anhe shop |
SAVOY 越苑
CLOSED / the owners reopened as PHOEVER in 2020 with similar menu and just as good a banh mi
4 comments:
I've got mixed feelings about this. Have been to the Zhongxiao E Rd location with a severe hang over and ordered a banh mi to go (the crazy one with tomatoes).
Pho - took wayyyyyyyyy too long time come out, maybe 10 minutes. The broth was lackluster, cool (not hot sadly), and the overall dish was disappointing. I almost couldn't finish it.
Banh Mi - I was expecting it just to be chicken with a few pickled vegetables like how banh mis are usually done. It was way too sloppy and wet with sauce (mayo?), the chicken chunks were way too big, and the bread was super stale. I eventually just picked out the chicken and dumped the rest of the sammy. I'm usually not one to waste food either (cuz im a fatty). I was honestly hoping to get the sandwich that you pictured originally.. but I think I probably (I did) just ordered incorrectly.
For Banh Mis, next time make the trek out to Lee's in TPMS where it's about 90-95% like the original in Westminster/San Jose! It'll be worth it, that I promise. It's just a little on the pricey side (I bought 4 to take home, hehe).
I also went to Pho Hoa on your suggestion while looking for LA/VN style pho, and was severely disappointed. I'm not sure you've had good LA pho before ;) But please, continue to explore and post up your experiences because if I can just find ONE place in Taipei/TW that has delicious pho, it'll make my stay in TW so much better.
Oops, I should also note, I also got the sandwich with tomatoes. I dont recall if there were other sandwiches w/o tomato listed on the menu.
Best Bahn Mi, I've had in TW was in Gongguan Night Market. Seriously, made me cry at how good it was.
@jonathan- yeah I hear you. i had mixed feelings about the tomatoes too... i don't know if it's a new thing for them or just for that branch. the original branch didn't have tomatoes when i went in the spring. for Pho Hoa, i like their dry pork noodle. if you notice, i reviewed them before Savoy and Cyclo opened, so in contrast, yea their pho isn't as good. You can try Cyclo.. their new shop is near zhongxiao Sogo.
nick: awww. sounds good
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