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My favorite banh mi's in Minneapolis! Super cheap and super fresh --- why would you get a McDonald's sandwich when you can get an 8 inch french roll filled with julienned pickled carrots and daikon, spears of cucumber, sliced fresh jalepenos, sprigs of cilantro and your choice of barbecued meats(chicken beef pork) or mock duck. All of that for about the same price as a McD's sammich! Jasmine Deli also has my favorite kind of goi du du (shredded green papaya salad), with shrimp and char siu pork. It's light crispy and fresher tasting than other green papaya salads, I think because you add the fish sauce yourself instead of the restaurant letting the shreds get soggy and sodden in the back. With that being said, I like to dress the salad immediately upon receiving it, then letting the fish sauce soak into it for about five or so minutes before eating it. Their noodle salads (bun) are the freshest tasting and prettiest in the city. The deli's food is far superior to the fancier sister's, Jasmine 26, and is cheaper to boot.
There are some things on the menu I'm not a huge fan of. Their soups are actually pretty bad. Their pork broth soup is bland yet weirdly sweetly flavored. The meat pie that comes with the com tam is dry crumbly and tasteless, a pale comparison to Pho Tau Bay's juicy flavorful meat pie. And oftentimes when if they run out of the meat pies, they replace it with a fried egg without telling you --- really not an acceptable substitute anyway considering that an egg is so cheap and not difficult to prepare nor is it meat the way I want meat to be! They should tell you upfront and not charge you as much if you choose to get the egg.
Okay, everyone says that i will never find as good a banh mi in the Twin Cities as i found in Orange County. On the contrary, i have found banh mi here that i've enjoyed MORE than their " superior" counterparts.
My favorite is the roast pork, so that's what i got.
The bread was a little chewy...but i bet it would be good if you warmed it up in the toaster oven for a while. The balance of ingredients was really good, not too much meat, not too much mayonnaise, just right. The meat was like the kind of roast pork you'd have at home. For some reason, a lot of places in Orange County had this weird roast pork that they'd use that wasn't like this. They did not skimp on the pickles, which is a MUST for me when it comes to banh mi. And their addition of macerated scallion was quite welcome as well. A party of flavors and textures, just like banh mi was meant to be.
And they don't make their sandwiches to order here...not complaining too much about that, but i've never seen that before! Maybe that way they can get each one perfect w/o having to rush to see customers? I don't know, even American sandwich places make them to order.
Sandwiches cost 3.50. I am used to never paying more than 2.50 for banh mi, and that's from a fancy schmancy place, but i guess i'm not in Kansas anymore. And they don't accept credit cards so come with a supply of currency of our elders.
All in all, yay!
I love this place! I would go eat here everyday if I could! Great prices, relatively quiet, great food ( i recommend the rice noodle soups which not only fill you up, have excellent flavor, but leave you feeling amazing, not like you are going to burst).
Great service-family owned nice people.
Good things to eat:
rice noodle bowls
anything with the peanut sauce
sanwhiches
good appetizers!
vietnamese coffee made with condensed milk and esspresso!
Great for a quiet cheap date!
bring cash or check, they don't accept credit cards
Yea! Vegetarian bahn-mi! They have a veggie broth pho too, but I have to get the sandwich when I go there. This place is cheap and the food is great, but I hate eating in there, its just too cramped. I usually just grab a sandwich and springroll from the front and make a run for it.
Also, I think it may still be cash only, but I'm not sure...
I always wanted to try Jasmine Deli after reading all the positive reviews. I finally got the chance to do so. I ordered a noodle, eggroll salad. The fish sauce and eggrolls were just right and those are the key ingredients to the whole dish. I suppose I should come back and try the banh mi sometime.
In theory great food but rude staff and an outrageously filthy bathroom make this the most unpleasant dining experience in the Twin Cities. It is too bad when a restaurant allows such simple things to ruin what would have been a great and inexpensive meal.
The person behind the counter did not talk to us or thank us when we left. If the department of health walked in the bathroom (or I'm guessing the kitchen) they would be shut down.
After a long lapse - who knows why - I stopped in at Jasmine Deli yesterday. The restaurant was empty!! This was a first for the dozen or so times I've been there. The server assured me they would fill up by 6pm, in another 30 minutes.
Since they don't accept credit cards (Sarah, add this to your list) and my wallet generally has everything but cash, I had come prepared with paper money. I was short 4 cents and they were okay with that.
1 order of shrimp spring rolls, 1 mock duck curry banh mi and a mango bubble tea - for under $12 - an inexpensive dinner for two.
The spring rolls were very well made, no complaints - theirs is the best I've had in the TC. The mock curry duck banh mi was too sweet and I could not detect the curry flavor - but the cucumbers and cilantro and carrots etc. achieved a nice balance of crunch and taste The mango bubble tea is what my husband thinks they do best but I find it toooo sweet . However, driving back home with the take out bag, I started sipping the bubble tea and ,,,had to drive faster to get home with enough tea left for him. The straw was HUGE and from the very first sip those tapioca pearls were sliding into my mouth. I still couldn't do a full size of bubble tea but a few sips would be good.
Jasmine Deli has a good choice of vegan and vegetarian items and they will oblige if you request modifications. When I get the vegetarian soup I ask for no noodles, and more veggies, and have never been able to finish it all. I cannot remember if they have salad on their menu but I saw the owners eating salad once and asked for the same. Cucumbers, carrots, some other fresh veggies, herbs - with lime juice for dressing. Fresh and satisfying. Prices can't be beat.
I only come here for the banh mi. They make a pretty good sandwich. The BBQ pork is excellent and has the right amount of meat. They don't use pate though.
The curry mock duck sandwich, which had blown to legendary status in Minneapolis, is all right. The reason it's so highly touted is that it is pretty filling for a vegetarian sandwich. Despite the curry sauce, it is strangely bland. I think they need to add a little salt.
Still, their sandwiches are quite cheap, which is always a plus.
Walking back from Miss Bertha's with a big ol' vase of flowers (and three balloons flopping around in the breeze), I swung in to Jasmine Deli to grab a quick bite to take home with me. I had long ago tried their Bahn Mi sandwiches, but it was high time to refresh my memory, especially since on my first visit I didn't really understand vietnamese cuisine.
I got a mock duck bahn mi, and even a thai bubble tea. It took a few minutes to prepare, but when it was ready I whipped out my credit card to pay . . .
Yikes! Cash only!
My total was $7.50, and I only had $7 in cold hard cash.
They let me slide. How nice is that?
The bahn mi was righteous, but I was a little a let down by the bubble tea. I have been ever since the first time I had one.
The first time I had a bubble tea was in Boston, and it was actually tea, and I loved it. Every bubble tea place I find here has these slushie tea drinks. I don't think they're nearly as good. The one from Jasmine was okay at first, but only half of it could be acquired via the straw. I had to wait until I got home to spoon out the last of it, and it wasn't worth it by then.
So skip the bubble tea, and stick with what Jasmine Deli does best: bahn mi, pho and spring rolls.
I tried their ice coffee, beef pho, shrimp spring roll and vermicelli salad with an egg roll. (split everything with a friend) Their peanut sauce for the spring roll and egg roll were good, but I probably will stick to Quang in the future.
They don't accept credit cards, cash and check only. The mexican restaurant across the street has an ATM machine. (lifesaver!) Do order their ice coffee made with condensed milk!
I would of given Jasmine 5 stars, but on this last visit their bathroom was a pit. Their spring rolls are great, perfect and fresh, their mock duck sandwiches cannot be beat. Ask for their house made chili sauce!! I have had their soups and noodles and broken rice dishes, what I appreciate is they do use veggie stock and make special sauces for us veggie heads. They do a kick ass bubble tea that is great. I know everything is house made there.
However----------clean the bathroom, gut it, start over, put a damn light in the john. It's like their bathroom is an after thought put into their storage closet and there is some cleaning supplies in there and a slop sink with a plant in it. Really an unappealing place to pee.
But the food----its fabulous.
Have eaten here several times. I find some things better than others: bun salads, banh mi, spring rolls are very good. While I have never gotten it, the curried mock duck banh mi seems very popular with the hipster bicycle riding tattooed crowd.
I did find the highly touted soups disappointing. There was no beef pho, only weird amalgams of seafood items, egg noodles, and whatnot. Soups seemed more generically "pan Asian" than what I associate with Vietnam. This was like going to a hamburger joint and discovering all the burgers are actually made from ground chicken. Are the owners Hindu, and avoidant of beef?
Very small space, and getting a table at lunch can be a challenge. Probably better for take out.
I used to really adore Jasmine Deli, but it seems like they have been going downhill lately. The last several times I have stopped in, they have been out of key ingredients. A few times they were out of bread for the sandwiches and last time they were out of spring rolls. How do you run out of something this basic when they are 2 of the main staples of the menu?
That being said, their lemonade is fantastic and I love their mock duck sandwiches. Also, the prices can't be beat.
I agree with everyone here reviewing Jasmine Deli (5 stars). This place is a little gem. The place is small, unlike Quang's. The reason I probably like this better is that it's low key and the waiter is friendly. He just likes talking to you. Their cute dog is nice too.
I haven't tried much in their menu but I did enjoy the sandwich and the Thai iced tea I had. I would definitely go back in a heartbeat to try their soup, salads and their famous spring rolls. If you live in the Twin Cities love Vietnamese food, you gotta visit this place.
mock. duck.
seriously.. also, the spring rolls were perfect and the bubble tea was sweet but not cloyingly so. i tried to devour the whole meal but failed....i'm not a quitter though. next time i'm in the cities i will definitely try again.
Jasmine Deli is the in-the-know spot for people looking for authentic, light, tasty and home-cooked Vietnamese food. The service is always friendly and fast and there are numerous vegan items, including mock duck curries, cold salads, huge bowls of noodle soup with tofu, stir-fry rice plates and my favorite for quick-eats, the mock duck baguette sandwich (if vegan, specify no butter). All of their prices are under $9 and the sandwiches cost only $3 and make a great meal. Two issues, though: they don't accept credit cards and they have highly limited seating. Otherwise, this is the gem of the many Vietnamese restaurants in Minneapolis.
Jasmine Deli is a tiny Vietnamese deli just off of Eat Street (can you tell yet how much I heart Eat Street?). With only a few tables, it is surprising how big their reputation is for great food.
A reputation they totally deserve. There is no Pho there (for that you have to go a few doors down to Pho 79) but there are plenty of other tasty in expensive options. Everyone I know raves about their spring rolls, peanut sauce, and sandwiches. In fact, everyone I know who loves Vietnamese food raves about the Jasmine in general. Try finding someone who has something bad to say about the food or the prices or the service. All exceed expectations.
Bottom Line: If you like Vietnamese food... go. NOW.
One of my favorite lunch spots. Very fresh and flavorful ingredients and just-right-sized portions. Great soups and rice noodle salads. Very reasonably priced. Super friendly service. It's a small and popular place, but the owner does everything he can to fit you in. Or if you're in a hurry, a ready-made sandwiches and spring rolls make a fabulous lunch for around $6. The sandwiches are the Vietnamese version of a sub sandwich on REALLY good bread. Yum.
Occasionally something will remind me of the food here and I will have to stop what I'm doing and go to the tiny place on Nicollet, usually stopping to get cash (they don't take CCs). The Jasmine Deli has that strong a hold on me. I get the charred beef noodle salad with egg rolls in it. My mouth is watering right now. Sometimes I get their coffee too, except with about a quarter of the usual dose of sweetened condensed milk.
It's run by a family and they're all sweet and friendly, sometimes a little forgetful. But man, the food is good. And cheap! The bahn mi sandwiches are REALLY good too. Watch out for hidden slices of jalepeno. You think they're green bell pepper and then your mouth is a fiery wasteland - the tears in your eyes will be from more than the burning. You'll be sad to have to wait for the pepper to run its course before you can finish your sandwich.
food is good but seems a little less authentic for some reason. cheap. needs to take credit cards though. 2x's i have had to hassel around b/c i don't carry cash.
Well their soup is good and all, and they always have weird stuff on the Tv, and it's pretty cheap, and sometimes they give you the food they mess up on for free, but there is this waiter who thinks he is a hilarious comedian who wouldn't leave us alone the last time I went there with a friend who was not only visiting from NYC and trying to catch up with her friends on her birthday, but had pnumonia in both her lungs. He just wouldn't stop talking and asking us questions about our personal lives. It was out of control.
Yummy, yum, yum. I love the fresh, flavorable, and inexpensive food they have at Jasmine. Spring rolls are outstanding, with great peanut sauce on the side. The veg spring rolls are made with mock duck and fried onions, so they're completely different than the pork/shrimp rolls. They sandwiches are always good, with the grilled pork being my favorite. Lots of rice noodles salads, and rice noodles soups to choose from as well. Great for meat-lovers to vegans.
Probably my favorite place on Eat Street. Blink and you'll miss it, it is a dingy little storefront, but it is just so good!! Try to Jasmine noodle soup, it's amazing, especially when it's cold out. Their spring rolls are excellent as well. Staff is family and friendly.
Minneapolis, MN
Category: Vietnamese
Minneapolis, MN
Category: Vietnamese
Minneapolis, MN
Category: Vietnamese
Minneapolis, MN
Category: Vietnamese
Minneapolis, MN
Category: Vietnamese
My local dry cleaner, watering hole, deli, cafe,…
