Simply Banh Mi is a Vietnamese restaurant at 292 High St in Harbour View, Lower Hutt, holding a 4.9 Google rating from diners.
A good bánh mì lives or dies on the bread: a light baguette that shatters rather than chews, layered with pickled carrot and daikon, fresh coriander, chilli to taste and a smear of pâté or mayonnaise. Vietnamese spots like this usually round out the menu with phở, noodle salads or rice plates, but the sandwich is the real test. Regulars know a bánh mì is best eaten within the hour, while the bread still resists, which is why it makes more sense as a quick lunch than a takeaway that sits in a desk drawer. And if the pickles taste house-made rather than jarred, that tells you most of what you need to know.
On Lower Hutt's High Street, Simply Banh Mi looks like the kind of place the neighbourhood has already discovered.