Same Same but Different in NoLibs

There are so many hot new restaurants in Philly, it's tough to know which to try next. On the top of our list was Same Same in Northern Liberties... and it should be on yours, too.

We first met Chef Chad Kubanoff and his wife Thuy in London during our inaugural Chowzter/FoodieHub blogger trip and spent an entire day with them food hunting through various markets. Proving how small our world really can be, it turned out Chad was from Bucks County but living in Vietnam at the time, cooking at a top restaurant and running motorbike street food tours with Thuy, who was born and raised in Vietnam. For FoodieHub, they represented Saigon, offering expert recommendations for where to get the best banh mi, noodles and more around the busy city.

They moved back to the U.S. last year to fulfill Chad's dream to open a restaurant here at home. Same Same shows off some of the best street food Saigon has to offer. You'll barely recognize the former Koo Zoo Doo space turned casual, with a small courtyard and local street signs on the walls.

Definitely check out Same Same for lunch or dinner. Pho will be added to the menu soon, just in time for winter. In the meantime, here's what we ate...

For a main dishes at Same Same, choose between a banh mi sandwich, noodle bowl or lettuce wraps, and then pick your featured meat/vegetable. Our banh mi was with pho-spiced pork confit, made with a dry rub of star anise, cinnamon, black cardamom and black pepper. The pork is marinated overnight, slowly braised in pork fat for 8 hours and seared to order. The bread comes from Ba Le Bakery on Washington Ave. Loved it! Really rich, fresh flavors on an excellent roll. If we lived Northern Liberties, stopping in often for a banh mi lunch would be a no brainer.


For something to share, grab an order of vegetable spring rolls and Thuy’s delicious chicken salad. The latter is a very light and fresh dish made with shaved cabbage, pulled poached chicken breast, toasted peanuts, fresh herbs and lemon. We cleaned the plate. The simple spring rolls are delicately fried, adding the perfect little crunch to your meal.


Lettuce wraps come with fresh mustard leaves, green lettuce, lots of herbs, pickled daikon radish, pickled carrot and rice noodles, plus a bowl of house made fish sauce dressing for dipping. We loved this sauce, which Thuy said is mixed with a little water and sugar to make it slightly less pungent. Delicious. The staff at Same Same will also show you how to properly roll a lettuce wrap, including the green lettuce inside a mustard leaf to make it stronger. Who knew?! We ordered the tender chicken thighs marinated with lemongrass, ginger, fish sauce and a bit of chili.

Overall, the food at Same Same was light, tasty and very fresh. We ate a lot but never felt stuffed and trust that Chad and Thuy make sure the experience/ingredients are authentic to the streets of Vietnam.

*Kid-friendly? Absolutely. Casual atmosphere, colorful finger foods and smoothies, and a resident baby (Chad and Thuy's own 3 month old!) make it a great place to bring along the kids. Our little guy tried really hard to get his fingers on a spring roll but he'll have to grow some teeth first.

Hit Me Banh Mi One More Time: Ba Le and Nam Son

"What's your favorite banh mi?" is the question that stumps us whenever we discuss Sandwich Quest with someone in Philly, considering our first banh mi at Q.T. Vietnamese more than three years ago was a big disappointment. The two sandwiches we tried there were just not good enough for us to recommend and we have not sought another since.

It was clearly time to jump back on the horse and try the banh mi again. This time we decided to tackle two - one each from Ba Le Bakery and Nam Son Bakery along Washington Ave.

Close-up of Nam Son banh mi

Thank the food gods that we did because the banh mi is squarely back on the list of things to try on Sandwich Quest. The shredded pork banh mi at Ba Le was the "a-ha!" moment, in particular. From the first bite, I began to understand why people love the banh mi. Just like any good sandwich it starts with the bread, and in the case of the banh mi - the French baguette!

The Ba Le baguette surpassed Nam Son although both were good. Soft and light on the inside with a crackly crust, every bite was a joy. And get this: you can buy individual baguettes for dirt cheap. At Nam Son they are 65 cents or 4 for $2.50. Compare that to Metropolitan Bakery, where a single baguette costs $1.25. The full banh mi sandwich is also a bargain at $4.50 at both places.

What really made the difference for both Ba Le and Nam Son was the freshness of the ingredients. Ba Le, where I tasted more of the cilantro flavor and the right combination of cucumber and carrots atop shredded pork, was a step ahead even though Nam Son was not bad by any means. Nam Son was a bit heavy on the carrots as you can tell from the picture.

Shredded pork banh mi from Ba Le Bakery

Shredded pork banh mi from Nam Son Bakery

And yowzers did the Ba Le version pack a punch of heat. It was just the right amount, though, as the jalapenos and spicy pork added much to the flavor without overpowering the rest of the sandwich.

If this were a banh mi smackdown, I’d give it to Ba Le with a late round knockout. However, the real winner was Sandwich Quest as both places more than proved that the "Vietnamese hoagie" belongs on anyone's list of Philly sandwiches to try. 

Let me know your favorite banh mi and be sure to tell us which type to order, too (barbecue pork, tofu, etc.).

And yes, the headline parody is the first and last Britney Spears reference that will ever appear on this blog.

Sandwich Quest: Banh Mi at Q.T. Vietnamese Sandwich

The second stop on our Philly Sandwich Quest was Q.T. Vietnamese Sandwich, located in Chinatown at 10th & Arch, for their Banh Mi sandwich. Anticipation was high since many claim the banh mi is one of the best sandwiches in Philadelphia - a high bar indeed.

For those who are not familiar, a banh mi is basically a Vietnamese-style hoagie consisting of a baguette, Vietnamese style meats and ingredients such as cilantro, pickled carrots and peppers. Like any good sandwich, the bread is the key to a good banh mi.

We ordered the House Special banh mi and the pork banh mi, both just under $5 for about a 10 inch sandwich. It's a a decent deal, but many say the prices at Q.T. are on the expensive side for banh mi. The house special includes vietnamese ham, BBQ pork, apparently pork ears and a spread of pork liver pate. Each sandwich at Q.T. comes with pickled carrots, cilantro, cucumbers and jalepeno peppers (optional). The pork banh mi had a variation of mayo.