serious cravings

I have cravings like a pregnant woman sometimes. Not in a "pickles and ice cream" sort of way, but in a "I GOTTA HAVE IT" kind of way. In the same vein, when I find a food that satisfies me, I'll eat it for every meal for weeks until I get tired of it.

Lately, I haven't been able to stop thinking about banh mi, a Vietnamese sandwich with mayonnaise, pate, cured meats, pickled veggies and cilantro inside a crumbly light French baguette (of course, with the Vietnamese spin on it: some rice flour). So good.

Banh mi and shrimp chips by Joy Cho via Oh Joy!

Some fried shrimp chips on the side sound delightful, like in the image above from Joy Cho of Oh Joy! (Is anyone else SUPER jealous of the ridiculously good food she eats? I need to move to California.)

I've been told that Jujube in Chapel Hill and Buku in Raleigh have banh mi on their lunch menus, but I honestly find it ridiculous that they charge $8 to $10 dollars for Vietnamese street food. A real Vietnamese restaurant would sell it to you for $3. I'll have to do some exploring since those are typically harder to find and the few that I've heard of have since closed down (a trend? Let's not think about it).

Raleigh friends, if you know where to find banh mi nearby, help a girl out.