Don’t let the name fool you. If your in the mood for European food this isn’t the place for you. I think the only thing that can be considered French here is the croissant and the French bread or baguette that the sandwiches are made with. At lot of Vietnamese dinning establishments will refer to themselves as “French” this is because in 1900 Vietnam became a colony of France with the French in control of all the levels of government. That all for the fun facts lets get on with the food. I got a steamed pork sandwich. If you have never had a Vietnamese style sandwich and your totally open to trying new things, then you should definitely have one. I’ve been eating steamed pork sandwiches ever since I was a little girl. My mom use to take me to the Vietnamese sandwich shop in San Jose, California. I love them. However, they aren’t for everyone. My fiance absolutely loves sandwiches, but refuses to even try these sandwiches. He won’t even take a bite because he says he already knows he’s not gonna like it.
A very friendly China-men greeted me at the window. I don’t know if he was nice to me because I was of the same ethnic background and spoke to him in Cantonese or maybe he was physic and knew I wrote a food blog and he wanted me to give him a good review. I guess we’ll just never know.
A typical “French” (Vietnamese) sandwich will consist of cilantro, steam pork meat, sweet and sour (pickled) radishes and carrots, meat paste spread, mayonnaise, raw hot peppers and sometimes cucumber.
The sandwich cost me under $5.00. I asked for extra pickled radishes and carrots and it was given with no additional charge. Pickled radishes and carrots are used a lot in Vietnamese food. I brought my sandwich home and ate every last bite.
Among sandwiches they also have milkshakes, fresh coconut, fruit, and shaved ice. Yum. The French cafe is located in the heart of Waikiki on Kalakaua St inside the International Market Place. There’s a large food court there so if you don’t fancy yourself a “French” sandwich that’s cool, eat something eles.
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One Response to “French Cafe”
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March 25th, 2008 at 11:58 am
[...] Alright, enough with the sweet seductions, let get down to business. I ordered Elvins Special Sandwich, $6.95, which was an Americanize Vietnamese sandwich. The traditional Vietnamese sandwich has the weird Asian meats, like steamed pork. Instead traditional American looking meat was used, like ham and chicken. The sweet, pickled carrots and radishes were there along with cilantro all on a French roll. I requested mine with no mayo and the sandwich came with a puny pickle and fresh cut pineapple. I was really happy with my sandwich. The change in meats was a nice fusion and may just entice others to try it. And when I say others I mean, non Asian folks that aren’t familiar with the traditional Vietnamese sandwiches. If this is you, feel free to read some of older post on Vietnamese sandwiches, Bale, French Cafe. [...]