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Usually I get my restaurant recommendations out of my fares. The time we spend together in the cab is perfect for my screening process. After weeding out (and occasionally kicking out) those who would send me to Applebees, I can judge a fare for ten or twenty minutes before deciding if we have similar taste buds and philosophies on life as well as, by extension, eating.
But a few weeks back, one of YOU, yes YOU, left a comment with a restaurant recommendation I couldn’t resist trying. No, I’m not talking about any of you Gothamist commenters (you know who you are). Someone with the handle of Polecat read through my The Hungry Cabbie Blog and found my very first post.
In that post, I describe an Indonesian durian shake that a Thai restaurant worker told me to try in Elmhurst. It was tasty and stinky just like I pictured it. But it wasn’t freshly made, and it didn’t come anywhere near to blowing my mind. So I’ve never taken anyone there on a Famous Fat Dave Five Borough Eating Tour.
Polecat politely suggested that I head to Sunset Park to try Ba Xuyen if I wanted a freshly made durian shake. All I had to go on was that comment (he claimed the shake is so cold that it "hurt my heart") and Polecat’s website (which doesn’t have much to do with food). For all I knew, Polecat might not know a durian shake from ham and cheese on a bagel.
Still, I hadn’t had a hungry Southeast Asian fare in a long while, so I was in the market for a great durian shake. In fact, I had just been talking about durian shakes that very day while discussing where I would take someone like Anthony Bourdain on eating tour if I were put to a challenge like that.
So I took Polecat’s advice, and I'm so glad I did. First of all, the Banh Mi Vietnamese sandwich was delicious. It was $3, it was LOADED with cilantro just the way I like it, and it was better than any Banh Mi I tasted during my tour in the Nam.
The durian shake, however, gave me one of those rare spiritual experiences during which my eyes open wide with joy and wonderment the moment the flavor lights up my tongue. It was cold, frosty, and icy exactly how I enjoy my fruit shakes. Plus, unlike the Sumatrans in Elmhurst, the Vietnamese at Ba Xuyen have managed to highlight the intense flavor of the durian while minimizing that stinky aspect of the fruit that usually takes some getting used to.
I guess I lucked out. To properly vet my fares, I talk with them openly, and I look them hard in the eyes. Occasionally, I can take the time to sit down and eat with them. I had no such luxury with Polecat. Nevertheless, I got a great recommendation out of him.
Ba Xuyen, 4222 8th Avenue, Brooklyn, 718-633-6601
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Anyone know what subway line this is near? 8th Avenue and what cross street?
Check this map out. It will show you the way and change your life.
http://www.onnyturf.com/subway/
Thank you for the subway directions site.
The photo of that sandwich is illegible and incoherent. Furthermore, the hungry cabby is absolutely disgusting. Images of him, especially in the act of eating, make me not want to eat, ever.
That's 8th Ave and 44th St, near the N train 8th Ave stop (8th and 62nd St), in Brooklyn's Chinatown.
Ba Xuyen is my favorite lunch stop in the WHOLE WORLD. It is easy to drive to, never crowded, and the woman behind the counter is always nice. And the sandwiches are sooooo good. The meatball is good for beginners.
I live upstate, and on my trips into NYC I try to arrive hungry so I can stop at a hole-in-wall Syrian deli named 'Falafel House", near the corner of 2nd Ave. and 91st St. on the upper east side. Check out their 'veggie combo,' a basket full of hummus, baba ganoush, pita bread, tabouli, and stuffed grape leaves, less than $10.
yummmm....
I suggest the next Vietnamese review be of Pho Bang at 145 Mott St. It's not in an OB but the Pho is bangin'.
I suggest the next Vietnamese review be of Pho Bang at 145 Mott St. It's not in an OB but the Pho is bangin'.
J. Slab at The Porkchop Express also rates this place highly:
http://porkchop-express.blogspot.com/2006/04/ba-xuyn_114595206522325755.html
You forgot to mention their awesome special coffee.
i dig the 80's star bracelet holding the shake in the picture.
Ba Xuyen rules because they have the best snacks (and the banh mi aren't shabby, either). Try the fried or fresh spring rolls, they're both good. I also like the things that look like pale bran muffins but have a whole prawn embedded in the top.
Minh,
That's my girlfriend's wrist. I dig her too.
Guy,
I don't drink coffee usually, but I'd be up to try "awesome special coffee" next time I go.
Macaca,
Don't cast aspersions.
Yeah, don't hate on the hungry cabbie.
"Illegible" and "incoherent" is probably what Macaca's English teacher wrote on his last essay before grading it "D-."
Oh, Macaca, such an ORIGINAL moniker behind which you hide! Although I find you bi-polar because you take the time to read THC's great articles, then type useless trash like your comment above, see, I'm rather amazed at your ability to stumble to your computer. Doesn't your bum hurt from all the man-love your uncle's been slipping you all these years? And how do you concentrate at your keyboard the way you do when you're busy offering your gay behind to your bosses at The National Review or The Weekly Standard? I understand you think you have some wicked brilliance to offer the world, but realistically speaking, you don't. You're probably a failed, or failing writer who tried too hard, and refuses to stop--even though nobody cares about your existence. Now run along and get your used and abused butt ready for your next appointment. And stop wasting your time on this site. Go to it, you bottom.
damnit!! why is everything i want to try in Brooklyn? i guess ill make my own walking/eating tour one day :) thank u for the awsome suggestions!
Seriously, Macaca, how can a photo be illegible? So silly.
I love the hungry cabbie.
Um... avoiding the cyber-fight brewing...
Re the Pho Bang: Pho Bang in Elmhurst is so much better than the one in Chinatown, in my humblest of opinions :)
Dave,
I am - of course - honored. Glad you dug the Durian Shake. The first time we went - my wife and I - she actually had the shake, and shared a little bit of it with me. We both thought it had a vomity before-taste, but, was actually uniquely rewarding in a way that is impossible to describe. And, yes, the other shakes, such as the Jackfruit, are so cold that I sometimes think they force themselves down the wrong tube. They do hurt the heart on a hot summer’s day. For what it’s worth, I still say these guys make the best Banh Mi in NYC. A lot of people sing the praises of Saigon Banh Mi on Mott, and they’re really good too, but, for my money, it’s Ba Xuyen.
As I really dig your postings, especially when they include your cabisodes, I am - again - delighted to have been able to contribute. Based on your excellent Harlem blog of a few weeks ago, I can’t wait to hit Londel’s for some chicken and waffles (only at lunchtime, when their prices are more down to earth). So it cuts both ways.
Appropos of nothing…when do I get my free food tour?
p.
Great recommendation! Turns out that this is a block from my apartment. My roommate and I went today and had a wonderful lunch. She had the durian shake and I had papaya. It was delicious! We had a little confusion at the counter because we asked for the "Banh Mi" sandwhich, but it turns out that banh mi simply means "sandwich." They have a lot of choices, and if you ask which one is good, they tell you they are all good (duh!). So we tried the #3 (shredded pork) and #6 (shredded chicken). For us the chicken had more flavor. I'm sure as we go there more, we'll try the others. They also have steamed pork buns and sesame balls. I would be a little weary of the stuff under the heat lamps. It may be perfectly fine, but I have never had any luck with food sitting under a heat lamps. The sandwiches and shakes are all very fresh!
Incidentally, the best way to get there is to take the D train to 9th Ave. which puts you at 9th Ave and 39th St. Walk up 39th and make a left at 8th Ave and walk five blocks.