Bun + Beer for $5 at Xie Xie

From 3pm - 7pm, Hell's Kitchen Vietnamese Sandwich shop Xie Xie is offering a bun + beer deal for $5 bucks.

How's that happy hour for you!

Xie Xie
645A 9th Ave. (at 45th)
212-265-2975

Baoguette - Best $5 bucks you can spend in NYC

Baoguette's new location in Saint Marks is a wonderful addition to the already bustling East Village food scene.

Serving up the ever so popular Banh Mi sandwiches, my favorite is the bbq chicken version.

Spicy bbq chicken, piled on high with carrots and pickled slaw with refreshing cilantro, this sandwich is delicious from the start to the end.

The bread is nice and toasty - a French baguette that is super fresh with none of the hard and chewiness that I commonly associate with baguettes.

While the sandwiches at Num Pang may be a little more sophisticated, the bread at Baoguette is far superior.

Plus at the discounted price of $5 versus an average of $8 at Num Pang, there really is no better deal that Baoguette.

Baoguette
37 St. Marks Place (Between 2nd and 3rd Ave)
212-380-1487

61 Lexington Ave (Between 25th and 26th)
212-532-1133

Num Pang Sandwich Shop - I could eat here everyday!

So I have walked by Num Pang many times without knowing what it was - just seeing a sea of people crowded in front of a little takeout window...

Today I finally met up with a friend at Num Pang to try their sandwiches.  Delicious!

So hard to choose from the menu - I mean seriously everything sounded so tasty.  Coconut tiger shrimp, pulled pork, grilled skirt steak...the list goes on and on....

I went with the five spiced pork belly with pickled rhubarb.  Yum!!!  Fatty pork belly - can't go wrong with that.  The pickled rhubarb cut into the fattiness of the pork belly, topped with carrots and cucumbers and my all time favorite herb, cilantro - the spiciness matched with the refreshing veggies was just about perfect.  I've finally found a contender with Momofuku's pork buns....

My friend Yue tried the peppercorn catfish in sweet soy sauce. Grilled nice and flaky with a spicy bite from the peppercorns- all she could say was yummm.....

 We washed our sandwiches down with their blood orange lemonade which was just about perfect on this 100 degree day!  The blood orange is a nice complement to a usually overly sweet lemonade.  Just right.

Next time I'll have to try the watermelon juice and the tiger shrimp sandwich. Or the veal meatballs, or the pulled pork, or the cured duck breast....you get the point.

Num Pang
21 East 12th Street (Between University and 5th Ave)
212-255- 3271

Saigon Grill - Not your average Vietnamese

I finally went to Saigon Grill on University Place this week.

After reading a lot about it and hearing much in the press, I decided to give it a whirl.

I usually stay away from these types of places - huge, standardized Asian fare - especially dressed up Asian fare at fancy prices.

On the outset Saigon Grill looks like a very westernized restaurant - definitely the anti-thesis of your neighborhood hole in the wall.  Which is exactly why I was so skeptical.

But, with both cheerful and fast service mixed in with quite delicious food, I was very pleasantly surprised.

We started off with the BBQ spareribs - basically picked out after seeing the table next to us eating theirs.  This is often the best way of ordering - just look around and see what looks good.

It was a great choice - deliciously sweet and tangy, the spareribs certainly hit the spot.  And just to remind people, they aren't meant to be done pulled pork style and usually are a bit chewey.  Familiar if you watch "The Next Food Network Star," and saw Debbie try to pull it off...

For my main dish we ordered the Curry Tom (curry prawns) and the Bun - with chicken.

The prawns were served with vegetables including eggplant and even okra!

The curry was only mildly spicy - I could have done with a bit more heat - but it is just the right amount of spice to serve a broader crowd.

Served with light and delicate pancakes - it kind of reminded me of a Chinese dish - "Moo Shu Pork" but with a curry twist instead of the sweet plum sauce served in the Chinese version.

The Bun consists of room temperature rice vermicelli with cucumber, lettuce, bean sprouts, crusted peanut & fresh herbs in nuoc cham sauce topped with grilled chicken.

The fresh cucumbers and mint added a freshness to the dish and nicely balanced out the sweeteness of the nuoc cham sauce and grilled chicken and crusted peanuts. 

Overall, Saigon Grill is a nice choice for large groups with a menu expansive enough to find something for almost everyone - even vegetarians.  Not the most authentic, it has a flavors that are pleasing to a broad audience making it a good "go to" place for many.

For dessert go for ice cream at the Van Leeuwen car which is now parked on University from 8pm to 11pm most nights!

Saigon Grill
91 University Place (Between 11th and 12th)
212-982-3691