When the burrito hunger strikes it usually begs to be satiated with some sort of grilled meat. So it was something of a surprise when I recognized the hunger, but discovered that it was specifically for a super vegetarian burrito.

It has been years since I’ve had a veggie burrito. Of course, I’m not talking about some ridiculous burrito filled with actual vegetables, rather I mean the San Francisco standby by of a super burrito, just without meat. I expected to soon be eating a flour tortilla filled with rice, beans, cheese, sour cream, salsa, onions/cilantro, avocado, and maybe lettuce. That’s it, that’s what I wanted. So I went off on a search for a menu item I haven’t had in years.

The weather being ridiculously nice in San Francisco lately, I decided to take a walk and do some burrito window-shopping. I ended up walking by three different places, all charging around six bucks for a super veg. I know its been a long time since I’ve had a veggie burrito, but six bucks? No thank you. Instead of worrying about how cheap, cheap, cheap and cheap equals six bucks I informed my inner craving that it didn’t really want a super vegetarian burrito after all; what it really wanted was a bánh mì.

Vietnamese sandwiches have long been a staple of the San Francisco food scene, but this was the first time I tried to replace a burrito craving (especially a vegetarian burrito craving) with a bánh mì. Turns out it was exactly the right thing to do. Finding myself in Lee’s Sandwiches on Larkin, I ordered up a special combo sandwich. Forming a delicious blend of contrasting textures, the crunchy baguette housed a mixture of meats and vegetables. Pork, pâté and pork skin (sort of a headcheese) played nicely with cilantro sprigs, daikon and carrots. The fantastic crunch of the bread was countered by the smooth gelatinous headcheese and the satisfying snap of the vegetables. A few scattered peppers tied the whole sandwich together. The sandwich was so large that a thinly sliced cucumber placed on top failed to reach the whole length across.

The aptly named sandwich has become a popular food item and may be nothing new, but this particular sandwich really hit the spot. I was not expecting an experience so delicious considering my original mission was to find a simple vegetarian super burrito. The special combo (a.k.a. dac biet) isn’t necessarily challenging to eat, but I would have thought it to be light years from a non-meat burrito. My craving however, was more than satisfied. This can only mean one thing: BÁNH MÌ IS THE NEW BURRITO.