New pho, banh mi option opens in Lincoln Square
CHICAGO (WLS) -- When a craving for a soup and sandwich hits, you might be thinking grilled cheese and tomato or maybe chicken noodle with tuna salad. But there's a Vietnamese combination you might want to consider.
Each item is actually a meal in itself, but there's plenty to share at a brand new sandwich shop near Lincoln Square.
Soup and sandwiches never tasted like this growing up. At CoCo Vietnamese Sandwiches and Pho in Lincoln Square, the emphasis is on just two things, but each requires extensive skill and labor. Take the pho, for instance. A complex spice packet of fennel seeds, licorice, star anise and clove is set into an enormous pot that also contains a lot of beef bones.
"We boil for eight hours overnight, then afterwards we put it in the fridge and then the next day it hardens and then we can skim the fat to make it healthier," said Kelli Lam, whose family owns CoCo.
The soup is more about the sum of its parts: briefly-boiled rice noodles, both raw and cooked beef, plus homemade meatballs engulfed in the hot, skimmed-and-strained broth, plus onions, scallions and a dash of black pepper. At the table, you can dip the beef into either hot or sweet sauce, then doctor it up if you choose with the condiment plate.
"Some people, they don't put in the bean sprouts, because they don't like the taste of bean sprouts; and then some people, they don't like the taste of mint so they also neglect that part, but I think they all add different texture and flavor to it," Lam said.
As for the banh mi, everything inside the bread is homemade: the mayo, the pate, the sausages and the pork belly roll. Even the pickled daikon radish and carrots, which get crowned with fresh cilantro and jalapenos. Even though the bread is heated up to order; it's sourced from a reliable bakery.
"The bread comes in fresh every day," Lam said.
Even though 99 percent of the menu is banh mi and pho, they also do some things off menu for catering orders, including beautiful salads with shrimp and mangoes. Not everything has beef or pork in it, by the way. You can also find sandwiches and spring rolls that are meat-free.
CoCo Vietnamese Sandwiches & Pho
1613 W. Lawrence Ave.
(773) 516-4760
