Nhu Lan Sandwich

I’ve been coming here ever since they opened. Whenever I am in the fruitvale area, I HAVE to stop by for a sandwich. I usually get their combination sandwich because it comes with tasty pâté/​liver paste. Compared to the other viet sandwich places in Oakland, this place charges a lot more. However, out of all the viet sandwiches I have ever tried, this place is my favorite spot.

I pass by all the time, and finally decided to try it out. Not bad for the prices, but Bahn Mi Ba Le further down International Blvd will always have my heart.
I got the combimation pork bahn mi, which was delicious! It consisted of what tasted like salami, deli ham, and these little white disks of pork that I have never before seen in my life, but hey, it tasted good.

This place may be a tiny hole in the wall, but that doesn’t stop them from serving up some of the best Bahn Mi sandwiches on all of International Blvd. The sandwiches here are always made fresh to order and are available in a large variety at cheap prices. I’ve tried multiple items from this establishment, but always return for the classic combination (pork strips/​pâté) with extra peppers;it’s flavorful and very filling. If you come here, don’t limit yourself to only a sandwich, be sure sure to try their tasty ice coffees or traditional pastries :)

The bahn mi here is excellent. So good in fact that we are now on a bahn mi kick, after trying to avoid it for months (we try to avoid simple carbs in our diet).
Anyhow, these sandwiches are delicious! The bread was nice and toasty but not too sharp. The veggie sandwich was full of flavor, which can be rare. The meat on the grilled chicken was nice (I tried a little before letting my son scarf that thing down). Prices were good, but not the cheapest I’ve ever seen for bahn mi.
Would definitely go back but there are so many other places to try!

The lemon grass sauce garlic sauce found on the #38 & lots of other dishes is worth fighting for. The menu is very random but Im pretty random myself the prices are great the food is awesome the service was totally cool I will definately be back

I’ve only tried the Bahn Mi sandwiches here, but they are all cheap (about 4 bucks) and good. They have a large variety, but I usually stick to grilled pork. I tried to get adventurous once and tried the pork combo, which included ham (eh), pâté (which I enjoyed), and some type of ‘pork cake’ which I think was a type of head cheese. That was a little too «authentic» for me.
Run by some nice people, who are always friendly to me.

I pass by Nhu Lan Sandwich all the time. They are located in Mexican area of the International Blvd, away from all other Vietnamese places. I found a parking spot up front, so I snagged it. Inside the restaurant is clean and tidy, brightly lit with fluorescent type light. Although they say they are a sandwich place, their menu is extensive with sandwiches, phở, rice plates, vermicelli, etc. I saw they have beef stew on the menu. It was over noodles, but I asked them to serve it over rice, the way I like it. Btw, prices of sandwich seem to be a bit high compared to other Vietnamese sandwich places in the area.
The beef stew came out piping hot. Nice presentation with rice served separately. The flavor of the sauce is very nice although the sauce is a bit thin. The meat, however, was very, very tough. It clearly wasn’t simmered long enough. There were some intestines which was cooked soft and they were good, but the meat chunks were not very well done.
I may go back to check their sandwiches at some point, but with other good Vietnamese restaurants just a mile or two away with cheaper prices, not sure if I would be in a hurry to come back here again.

This place sucks. I wanted to like it because there aren’t that many phở joints in the area, but the food is mediocre and the service is unaccommodating. They won’t even give you tap water. Avoid.

I wish I could give this place an even WORSE rating!
I wasn’t pleased with what they were serving as «chicken,» so thinking they valued their customers’ opinion, I pointed it out and asked for a vegetarian option instead. The rude lady at the counter began arguing with me, saying that the BBQ chicken banh mi was what I ordered and that’s what I got. I told her I didn’t like the way the chicken looked (it was brown and kind of pinkish and rubbery looking) and to just give me a different type of sandwich. She refused, unless I decided to pay an extra $ 3 for another sandwich.
The younger man at the counter didn’t even want to deal with me, he just passed me off to the crazy older lady in charge. She would not listen to reason (I thought the customer was always right), and since I was with my boss, I didn’t want to cause a scene and just walked off. I pulled all the «chicken» out and ate everything else.
She then came back to the table with 2 more pieces of chicken and began lecturing me on dark meat and light meat. It was absurd.
I’ve had banh mi sandwiches before, and chicken plenty of times, so I know how they are both supposed to look; what I almost ate today was neither of those things. I normally love local hole in the wall places, but this place deserves to be shut down. Rude services, questionable food quality, and lack of care on the employees’ part.

At $ 3 for the pork banh mi and $ 3.75 for the combination pork banh mi, these prices are some of the lowest (if not the lowest) I’ve seen in the bay area. I came in on a very quiet afternoon and in 5 minutes my sandwich was done.
The taste itself isn’t top tier, but it’s a lot for what you pay for. The quantity of meat is certainly lacking compared to the best of the best, but it’s good enough for a quick snack to tide you over until you get your four better banh mis that you’ll have for dinner :)

I don’t really understand the high praise this place gets here on Unilocal.
Was there for lunch on a Saturday afternoon, place was empty, all tables were sticky and dirty. The woman behind the counter was super rude and unfriendly, because we *gasp* wanted some food! We took a while to figure out what we wanted and she stared daggers at us all the time we were standing there, simultaneously yelling at her husband (?). When I asked her whether they had a restroom, she actually growled at me and pointed to the back. You have to go through the kitchen to get there. Not recommended, if you still want to eat there afterwards…
We got a bowl of soup (defrosted won tons were still slightly frozen in the middle!) and a bowl of vermicelli with beef. The beef had a strange taste and was so hard we only ate half of it, the egg rolls were doughy and greasy and almost without filling.
When I asked for a glass of water. I was told that they sell bottled water and I should get a bottle from the fridge. I was a bit taken back by the unfriendly response. I told them I just wanted a glass of tap water and she just shrugged at me and kept yelling at her husband in Vietnamese. 5 minutes later she banged two Styrofoam cups with water on our table.
Not what I had expected. Next time I’m on International, I will do the smart thing and eat Mexican food…

This tiny little lunch counter on International serves up a solid Banh Mi. I had the grilled pork one — yum, and only $ 3. No problems with the service, the woman at the counter was polite and spoke enough English to leave the mayo off the sandwich. The flavor was great, the meat had a nice marinade or sauce, the veggies were pickled just right, and there was just a hint of fire from the hot peppers. Could have used some sriracha, but i forgot to put it on myself at the condiment station. I will be back!

I came here this afternoon hoping to get something good to eat I mean the pictures they have up look good right??? Well wrong!
Okay so I came here with my son I placed an order for the rice plate For my son and got myself a pork sandwich waited for my food and omg my sandwich was dry as hell for almost 4 bucks it should somewhat be tasty but he’ll no. The rice plate was pile with rice 2 egg rolls and few veggies and chicken that was cut up to few pieces I was disappointed even my son was disappointed and said” mom lets not waste money at this place again”
Save your money… go some where else you won’t regret it.

***UPDATE***I haven’t logged into Unilocal for a while and I noticed a comment from the owner saying my review is a lie. Of course the owner would say that! They don’t want bad reviews for their restaurant. Well, I just read quiet a few reviews and it seems a few people have experienced the SAME thing I went through.
«The woman behind the counter was super rude and unfriendly»
«The rude lady at the counter began arguing with me”-Her chicken didn’t look right
I don’t want to Bash a business but if you are calling me a liar I don’t take that lightly. I was treated poorly, I wrote a review, and all they should do is take it into consideration and learn from it.
I would give –1 if I could.
Had a horrible experience!
My mother, grandmother, and Myself went there for lunch. My mom and I ordered just 2 pork sandwiches for ourselves. I forgot what My grandmother got.
The lady was super nice and friendly.
So we sit down and wait for our order. Get our food and start eating. I have never eaten here before so Didn’t know what to expect. Take my first bite and it was just the weirdest taste ever. But I thought maybe there was some kind of sauce on it and I just wasn’t use to that taste so I continued with my second bite. Each bite I would turn my nose up in disgust and said ew. I put my sandwich down and could not finish. My mom asked what was wrong and I told her the sauce on my sandwich tasted funny and I didn’t like it. She said hers tasted fine so I took a bite of hers and it tasted fine to me. Tasted NOTHING like mine and we ordered the SAME sandwich, So she tasted mine and had to spit it out. So, I thought maybe they put something on it or the meat wasn’t good. So I walk up to the counter and told her NICELY that my sandwich had an odd taste and wanted a new one made. Instantly she just went crazy! Started yelling at me saying her food is good and that she has never had a complaint and that My sandwich is fine.
OK… I am a patient person and very reasonable but when someone yells at me like that for no reason then My patients and sweetness goes away VERY quickly. I repeated myself to her again that my sandwich tasted funny and if she could just make a new one.
The yelling again.
By that time I was pissed. She couldn’t understand why I thought it tasted funny. I said, „This is gross to me, can you make me a new one or give me my $ 3 back?“
More yelling…
Then I got mean…“Alright, give me my money back, this sandwich was gross and I want my money back!»
Still yelling at me about how good the sandwich is and that I have no idea what I’m talking about.
After a few minutes of this my mom comes up and says «Ma’am, I tasted the sandwich and it has a funny taste to it. Can you just make a new one of give my daughter back her $ 3»
More yelling… So my mom is standing there trying to make this woman understand that we just want our $ 3 and we will leave. People are staring, I was embarrassed… Then another customer goes up to the counter to order while I’m standing there asking for my money back and the lady starts to ignore me. By that time I am completely furious and demanding my money back. I know its $ 3 but that bitch didn’t deserve it. So she ignores me for the next few minuets and my mom is boiling with anger, takes my sandwich and throws the basket at the lady and walks out. I walk to help my grandma get her stuff and we leave.
By the taste of my moms sandwich I would have enjoyed my meal. But mine tasted Horrible and All I wanted was for her to re-​make it with fresher meat or my money back.
Her immediate response was to yell at me and then ignore me. I will NEVER go back there again! And I hope that old B*tch gets whats coming to her!
Had such high hopes since this place has such wonderful ratings and talk about how friendly she is. I guess I caught her on a BAD day cuz she sure was a RUDE B*TCH!

Yum! Came from SoCal up to Oakland looking for some good Vietnamese food and stumbled upon this hole in the wall and couldn’t be more pleased.
Very good prices for the amount of food you get! The owners are very friendly and make great food.
Got the beef phở which had soft noodles and perfect broth. They give you a lot of vegetables with the phở.
Also definitely recommend the dumplings! It’s the owner’s special recipe along with the spicy sauce!
Will definitely come back next time I’m in the area :-)

For the sandwich.
I really like the lady that works here. She’s super nice and that’s why I keep coming back. The sandwich is average. I don’t care for the bread. It’s small, not crisp enough, and not even the baguette I’m accustomed to. It’s hard to jack up the filling, so there’s no complaint there. I also like that they have TWO veggie options. Thanks!

Solid.
Had their shrimp rolls and the grilled pork banh mi.
Around $ 8. Had no idea they spoke Canto as well here… right on International Blvd.
Would come back if in area. One of the few SE asian sandwich joints amidst Hispanic storefronts.

THIS is how a Vietnamese sandwich place should be. Fast service, cheap and tasty, toasty, fresh sandwiches. I’m a vegetarian so finding a suitable veggie version of a sandwich that usually revolves around meat can be somewhat of a challenge, but they put this really yummy mushroom/​veggie slaw in the vegetarian sandwiches that makes my mouth water just thinking about it. Yum.
Only drawbacks: It’s a small place with very limited seating, so I wouldn’t stay there to eat. They also need to expand on their drink choices– maybe some boba drinks or Vita juice boxes (hint hint: black current, lychee or chrysanthemum tea?) I would like that. But all in all a great sandwich place!

Most sandwiches here are $ 2.50, except for the combination pork which is $ 2.75. They also serve phở and other noodle soups, though the selection isn’t that big. There are some rice plates too. There are also some pastries, like pineapple buns and coconut buns.
Though it’s a small shop, there are some tables to eat in. They accept cash or credit, though I think there is a minimum on the credit charge. They speak Cantonese here also. Service is quick and friendly.

Came here with a friend and split 3 banh mi. #1 (Dac Biet — Special Combo Pork, $ 2.75), #4 (Thit Nuong — Grilled Pork, $ 2.50) and, #10 (Xiu Mai — Meatball, $ 2.50). IIRC, the combo was the only $ 2.75 one on the menu and the rest are $ 2.50.
In addition to about 15 banh mi variations they have 2 phở, half a dozen hu tieu soups, a couple of stews, some rice vermicelli (bun), and rice plates (com). About 30 – 40 dishes with just about everything $ 7 or less.
The baguettes were toasted, but not enough for our liking to create that nice crackly crust. Might have been the drive to the office so not too big a deal. Unwrapping (
&
) was a definite improvement over recently munched Saigon Express (
). We could actually see something other than the baguette!
The grilled pork was tasty with a good marinade, but was a dry. The meatball had decent flavor, but was cold and crumbly. I prefer when it’s served warmed up which is how Ba Le serves it up down the street. The combo was the favorite with some bursts of peppery notes. After dissecting the sandwich I found some cracked peppercorns mixed in the pâté.
As far as the other fillings, the carrots and daikon tasted fresh. Too fresh and not really pickled. The cucumber spears added a nice juicy crunch which I like vs. thinner slices. The jalepenos were not that spicy so ask for more, if you want some heat.
Nice addition to the Oaktown banh mi scene.
Combo #1: 4 stars
Pork — Thit Nuong #4: 3 stars
Meatball — Xiu Mai #10: 2.5 stars