Ha Long Bay Vietnamese Sandwiches opens in New Hyde Park
Ignore the sign that says "Sweet Passion Pasticceria Gelateria" at 1200 Jericho Tpke. in New Hyde Park, and focus, instead, on the harder-to-read letters in the window: "Vietnamese Sandwiches." Sweet Passion closed about a year ago and, replaced earlier this year by Ha Long Bay, named for the stunning bay, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, in Northern Vietnam.
The kitchen is run by Billy Dang, who became something of a banh mi bigwig after he and his sister opened Nicky’s Sandwich Shop on Manhattan’s Lower East Side in 2004. Within months of its debut, the place acquired a celebrity following (Steven Spielberg once ordered 30 of them and fellow "E.T." alum Drew Barrymore was a frequent visitor), and in 2006 a second location opened, this time in Brooklyn. Along the way, not one but two Food Network stars (Anne Burrell and Aaron Sanchez), pronounced it The Best Thing I Ever Ate during a special "Between Bread" episode of the popular series.
Dang’s Nicky’s is no more but Dang’s sandwiches are swiftly finding a following here on the Island, where he relocated last year. Ha Long Bay’s menu features 10 banh-mi sandwiches ($9 to $11), from classics filled with ham and crumbled pork, chicken or sardines to more recent innovations with tofu, roast duck or portobello mushrooms. All sandwiches on crisp baguettes, stuffed with pickled vegetables and cilantro and can be ordered in varying degrees of spiciness.
The menu also includes five pho (noodle soups. $13); bowls of pork, chicken, tofu, sardine, vegetable or duck served over rice or rice vermicelli ($11) and starters ($7 to $9) such as summer rolls, spring rolls and papaya salad.
On the drinks front: bubble tea and smoothies as well as some justly famous Vietnamese beverages: coffee (hot or iced) made with Cafe du Monde chicory blend and sweetened condensed milk, fresh-squeezed lemonade and fresh coconut juice.
Ha Long Bay is at 1200 Jericho Tpke., New Hyde Park, 516-780-0550.
