The Best Sandwich in Howard County
While your Subway "sandwich artist" is picking up the cold chicken patty he is about to microwave for your franchise lunch, consider this: for about the same price, at Columbia's Pho La Cay in Dobbin (map) you cold have gotten a banh mi thit heo nuong, AKA a Vietnamese grilled pork sandwich.
That's it above, as served, for $5.49. Here's what you get:
Strips of marinated grilled pork on a flaky French baguette, topped with slivers of pickled carrots and diakon, cucumber, jalapeño slices, sprigs of fresh cilantro, black pepper and house-made Vietnamese mayonnaise. (The latter being richer than western mayo, with more egg yolks, and using lime juice instead of vinegar for the acid.)
This sandwich is a flavor explosion. And like most Vietnamese food, nutritious and not overly filling. They even do a spicy lemongrass tofu version for vegetarians.
Pho La Cay, while new to Columbia, is an offshoot of the very competitive Silver Spring Vietnamese food scene. It has already has become a crowded lunchtime spot, and with good reason.
Is this the best sandwich in HoCo? I sure think so. Got any other contenders? Hit me up.
Tags: Worth the Weight, World Influence, Made in HoCo
