Banh Mi Ba Le Vietnamese Sandwich Deli, El Cerrito

I am officially a student again, and I need more cheap food recommendations, pronto. After reading my latest Bourdain book on BART this afternoon, all I could think about were his vibrant descriptions of Vietnamese food. Knowing there was no way I could afford to even drive to Pho84 not to mention buy food, I headed around the corner to a Vietnamese sandwich shop that I had found on Yelp! (sorry, AP, Civic Center days are Thursdays).

Banh Mi Ba Le has some amazing reviews on Yelp!, and while Yelpers are not always trustworthy, I thought I'd at least give this place a try. It's so hot today that I even walked, not wanting to get into my scorching car. Fortunately, this place is even closer than I thought--2 short blocks away from my apartment!

The sandwich deli is pretty much a hole in the wall of a worn down strip mall on San Pablo at Central. There were three older Vietnamese women standing behind the counter and a bunch of Asian people standing in front of the store, so I assumed it had to be good despite its appearance and headed in.

They serve about ten different types of sandwiches, including BBQ chicken, BBQ pork, vegetables, etc. I decided to order a Cha Siu Sandwich. Scared that it wouldn't be enough food for me after seeing the price ($2.25!), I also ordered a green papaya salad ($3, no seriously).

In about 30 seconds, I was handed a plastic bag containing all of my food, and I quickly headed home to start chomping away. After turning on Oprah, I opened up my lightly toasted sandwich. The baguette was crusty on the outside but oh-so soft on the inside; it was clearly fresh. Inside, a bit of the bread had been scooped away to make room for fresh, brightly colored carrot slivers, daikon, cucumber, jalapenos, cilantro, and of course, sweet BBQ pork.

Despite being full after my ridiculously cheap sandwich, I decided that I wanted to eat more anyway and dug into my salad. The papaya salad had raw papaya slivers, carrots, a little bit of flat leaf parsley, and was topped with shrimp. The dressing tasted of a million flavors at the same time--citrus, vinegar, spice (jalapeno, I think), and sweet. The salad on its own was filling enough, so now I sit here typing this, about to go into a food coma instead of trying to remember how the hybridization of carbon and hydrogen molecules works.

Now I haven't been to the Vietnamese sandwich shop at the Civic Center, but the sandwich I had today has got to be up there. I also unfortunately have not had the green papaya salad from Out the Door, but to be honest, at Banh Mi Ba Le I can walk around the corner, not have to worry about annoying mall patrons, and pay a fraction of the price. I'm sure that the salad at Out the Door is better but if you are a student on a budget, or just feeling like having the cheapest meal of your life, go here.

Banh Mi Ba Le Vietnamese Sandwich Deli is located at 10174 San Pablo Avenue at Central in El Cerrito (near the Pacific East Mall and the El Cerrito Plaza). Here is the Yelp! article that led me to them: http://www.yelp.com/biz/fOBypmZMEJ3GoulOSH-Zxg#hrid:Mc8Ab1le53MzAScYuM3GNg/query:vietnamese