It’s good to have thick skin, but not when it comes to banh mi, according to Tuan Pham. The San Jose resident immigrated from Vietnam in 2019 with his sister and parents, recently opening a banh mi shop in Mountain View.
“If it doesn’t crack like this, it means that the skin of the bread is super thick,” he said while pressing his finger into a small baguette. “That’s not good. That’s not how authentic banh mi is in Vietnam.”
Siblings Tuan and Liz Pham soft opened SaiGon BreadFast Oct. 10 in the former spot of The Sandwich Spot at Mountain View Shopping Center. All bread is baked fresh each morning in house, and eight varieties of banh mi are available. A selection of phin-dripped Vietnamese coffee, matcha and tea drinks are also offered.
Tuan Pham, who previously worked at a car dealership as a mechanic, said he opened the banh mi shop for his parents. In Vietnam, his parents owned and operated a few eateries, but their job opportunities were limited upon coming to America, as neither spoke English. Opening the restaurant was a way for the whole family to work together and bring traditional Vietnamese flavors to the area.
In Vietnam, banh mi is a breakfast food (hence the name “BreadFast”), and you won’t find grilled pork, chicken or beef varieties, Tuan Pham said. Instead, ham, sardine and meatball are common flavors. If he had to pick one, Tuan Pham recommends the signature sandwich, made from ham, pork roll, steamed pork belly and pâté ($8.75 for a small, $11.75 for a large). For vegetarian diners, a banh mi made with fake pork meat made from tofu is also available.
In addition to freshly baked baguettes, SaiGon BreadFast also offers housemade pâté chaud, a Vietnamese savory meat-filled puff pastry ($3.85). Other snacks include popcorn chicken and sausage and cheese corn dogs ($7.50-$10.49).
SaiGon BreadFast’s coffee is made from robusta beans imported from Vietnam and slowly phin-dripped each morning, resulting in a strong, intense and highly caffeinated coffee. It comes sweetened with condensed milk and served over ice, and can be topped with foams in flavors such as egg, coconut, sea salt and taro ($7.25).
A variety of matcha drinks, fruit tea and milk tea are available, with optional add-ons such as black pearls, blueberry popping boba and coffee jelly ($6.96-$7.25).
SaiGon BreadFast seats about 20, with two tables for outdoor seating. A hand-painted black-and-white mural of Bến Thành Market, baskets of hyper-realistic foam bread and a shiny blue Vespa comprise the main focal element of the space. At the back, a Catholic home altar with statues of Mary, Joseph and Baby Jesus is on display.
With the current size of his store, Tuan Pham estimates that he can bake about 500-600 loaves of bread a day. If SaiGon BreadFast is successful, he hopes to eventually franchise the business and create a commercial kitchen just for bread production.
“I just want to bring the authentic banh mi to customers in this area,” Tuan Pham said.
SaiGon BreadFast, 123 E. El Camino Real, Mountain View; 669-249-5694, Instagram: @sgbreadfast. Open Sunday to Thursday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., Friday and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.
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I wish him well. The last Vietnamese sandwich shop two blocks away closed after three years. But this place has more foot traffic.