Mei Sum

Sometimes hype can ruin a restaurant experience. I've spent the past four years in Philly finding those perfect go-to meals that I can always count on. But I'm worried that the standard is set too high. Take banh mi for example. General Tso and I used to trek weekly down to Italian Market in Philly to grab delicious banh mi sandwiches, which I was basically obsessed with. So one of my top priorities here in Boston was finding a good vietnamese sandwich shop. After spending a lot of time on yelp, I picked out a spot that seemed promising: Mei Sum. The banh mi was good, but it didn't live up to my memory of what the perfect banh mi should taste like. The sandwich was ruined by my high expectations (but, then again, how can you go wrong for $2.75 a sandwich?). The sandwich was crunchy and had the right amount of spice. I also liked the balance of salt with the tofu. I didn't like the melted butter on the bread; it made the bread slightly soggy and just tasted odd. The caramelized onions were mushy and didn't fit.

I don't know, maybe I haven't looked hard enough for the right banh mi shop (although we did find Nhu Y in Philly on the first try). All I know is that I'm going to continue to have high expectations, in hopes that I'll find some of those amazing dishes that I grew so fond of in Philly. Boston, bring it on!