"vietnamese cuisine" news and stories

Joe and I already have beef about this (pun absolutely intended). The guy absolutely loves banh mi, the Vietnamese version of a hoagie -- a French roll stuffed with grilled meat (Vietnamese meatballs, grilled chicken, beef, pork, or other choice cuts of animal), julienned cucumbers, lightly pickled carrots and daikon, and a few condiments. I, on the other hand, am not fond of Vietnamese cuisine to begin with, and found the banh mi I tried at Pho 99 in Los Angeles to be a somewhat strange juxtaposition of cuisines. To be quite honest, it seems sort of plain for as much hype as it gets. I'd just rather eat those same ingredients, mixed with rice noodles, out of a bowl. Am I missing something, Joe??

I will concede to the fact that banh mi tend to be very inexpensive, though I find it hard to comprehend that Joe spent $12 on his at 5 Ninth. That's a lot of money for any sandwich, banh mi or otherwise.