Hue Thai impresses with tasty banh mi bread, pho

Well, maybe it’s not all about the bread, because what’s in between that bread can make or break a banh mi. But the bread is an awfully important consideration.

If you’re not familiar with banh mi, you’re missing out on one of the world’s greatest sandwiches, which came about because of a natural border-blending that combined influences from numerous cuisines, primarily Vietnamese and French. That precursor to fusion (and fusion confusion) came about because of the French colonization of Vietnam, which left decided influences of the former on the cuisine of the latter.

Hence, the banh mi– or Saigon Sub, to the glibberati — the Vietnamese iteration of what Americans think of as a hero, a hoagie, a grinder or yes, a sub. Only better.

Banh mi get off to a good start because the bread used to make them — especially as they’re made at Hue Thai, on Spring Mountain Road — is the perfect launching pad. Classically French in origin, it’s a tres bon study in paradoxes, with a hard, cracking crust that somehow manages not to crumble under pressure (or tear up the inside of your mouth) and an interior that’s light and airy but still substantive enough to support the various fillings.

As for those fillings, the options are numerous. While the fried egg ($3.49) is pretty classic, we have a co-worker who swears by the sardine banh mi ($3.49) and we have in the past enjoyed the charbroiled pork ($3.99), this time it would be the house special ($3.49), stacked with a variety of mostly pork-based meats including what we always think of as the Vietnamese version of head cheese. Plus there are the herbs and vegetables that give the sandwich its authentic Vietnamese flavor, such as cilantro and daikon and carrots. The garden stuff provides a fresh, sprightly effect, balanced by the mellow blend of seasonings in the various meats and the crusty neutral goodness of the baked-in-house bread.

We had some of the bread unadorned, too, as part of a curry chicken/French roll combo ($7.25). This appeared to us from the menu to be a soup, and I guess it technically was, but in reality it was more of a stew, reminiscent of the Thai tom kha gai in its chili-coconut flavors but with large pieces of chicken, which we carefully picked from the bone with our chopsticks. It was deeply flavored and just hearty enough — perfect for a chilly winter day in the valley — and even better because we could tear the crusty roll into pieces and dip away until we were feeling fat and sassy.

And because it was indeed a chilly winter day, we’d have some pho, too, to go with our banh mi. Hue Thai’s pho — the Vietnamese beef-noodle soup — can be done as a combo version or build-your-own ($7.25); because we weren’t enamored of some of the ingredients in the combo, we confined ourselves to brisket and steak. And what we found was an exceptional pho, with the characteristic sort of gluey rice noodles and plenty of pieces of meat, but also with a broth that was way better than most, with a pleasing depth of flavor — my favorite pho in town, so far. Accompanying it was the requisite platter of vegetables and herbs to add crunch, flavor and color, including bean sprouts, what seemed like an entire basil plant, daikon and more, which we added at will along with a few dashes of sriracha.

Which is Thai, like some of the dishes on the menu, and reflective of the mixed-metaphor name — more border-blending, seen most commonly in venerable cultures such as these.

As for us, we’ll always think of banh mi when we think of Hue Thai, for those lovely crusty sandwiches that are so good no matter what’s inside.

Maybe it is all about the bread.

Las Vegas Review-Journal restaurant reviews are done anonymously at Review-Journal expense. Contact Heidi Knapp Rinella at 383-0474 or e-mail her at hrinella@ reviewjournal.com.