Tu Kim Coffee Shop

Theres a Big guy out front chilling like a Big Boss.
Once you enter, you know its a Hole in the wall, which means they must have some authentic flavors.
They don’t have Phở but they have a medium size bowl of choi dieu which taste like moms good home cookn.
Their Vietnamese Sandwhich which is the mission and quest. Its very cute and smaller then the other ones I’ve tried in the neighborhood.
But boy this cute lil thing when eatn right away is authentic Vietnamese Flavor. You can see the traditional jaa and the special red one. Theres the pickled carrot and fresh cilantro.
The Pâté is strong with the secret hint of soy sauce.
Mayo is in there but not oozing.
This is what a Vietnamese Sandwhich should taste like.
Delicious! Great taste and quality. But you don’t get your bang for your buck at 4bucks combination Pork.
Ate one and still hungry for more.
The lady looks at you odd, but they come through and are very friendly when the food is ready.
I greeted and thanked them in Vietnamese.
One of the young guy said what business does a Japanese guy have knowing how to speak Vietnamese.
Wierd tension, but thats Vietnamese bashing joke culture. I get Japanese alot due to my Haircut.
Tried ti tell them I was Chi Chow and Viet.
Oh wells.
Now I’ve been getting 2. One two eat fresh cuz its my lunch.
Then one to go. So 4hours past and this sandwhich falls flat and bread gets hard when its cold unlike the ones from the other shop. Not as epic cold. SO EAT IT WHEN ITS HOT!!;D
Asian beverage is limited to grass jelly and soy drink.
Read tge other reviews, gonna have to try their congee next time.

This place is an odd duck. It seems to serve primarily as a hangout for older Vietnamese dudes who sit for hours without actually ordering food. So when you walk in, unless you’re an old Vietnamese dude, their reaction is to ask if you somehow got lost, perhaps looking for a dealer or hooker.
There is something about the place that makes me think of a Saigon hangout for locals. I bet everything on their limited menu is something that the old dudes want to eat. Not the 100 item menu for these people. They make the occasional noodle soup and porridge. Usually something more obscure that people who assume Vietnamese food is only phở wouldn’t know about. Their banh canh is popular although I think there is too much MSG.
I quite like their combo sandwich which is nicely balanced and not a behemoth. The bread is crisp, the cold cuts are homemade, and not that lurid mass produced pink stuff at so many places (cough-Lee’s). The greens are fresh and bright.
I know the combo sandwich grosses out the nonAsians with its weird textures and colors. In which case, hie thee to Saigon Sandwich and leave me to imagine I am in HCMC in peace.

Tu Kim doesn’t have a menu (didn’t see one anywheres) seems they sell coffee (scooped from a «kirklands» can), bahn mi, and noodles soup.
an hole in the wall essentialy with a few tables
eats: combo bahn mi (3)
–½ the size of usual places, the usual cold cuts and msg for flavoring.
–not a good value.
2 stars.
service good, product bad.

5 stars for their crackin porridge!!! Do eat it with what they serve! Some bean sprouts, squeeze of lemon, and dab of hot sauce. Mm mm good. This is authentic, just like mama makes it

We went to Tu Kim for lunch because a co-​worker was raving about the noodle soup. The menu is very minimalistic and consisted of congee, sanwhiches and noddle soup. I had the congee with pork blood and liver. The porridge was very tasty and pretty filling. The porridge was made with broken rice. A co-​worker mentioned that the rice was stirred fryed beforehand in order to bring out the flavor.

In search of a good banh mi and decided to give this place a try. Like other shops in the neighborhood, it’s a hole in the wall with a simple counter. They also serve noodles and a hang-​out with some locals.
The combo banh mi is ok, nothing to write home about.

A mysterious shop in the Tenderloin area that doesn’t seem to have a menu and only has one type of sandwich. The sign out front says coffee, sandwiches and ice cream. I didn’t see any ice cream but I did see many cans of condensed milk (for Vietnamese coffee I presume). It looked like the ice cream freezer was being used for other purposes. The inside is cluttered, they have multiple TVs, and a few small tables. The restroom was out of order.
The woman behind the counter greeted me like I had wandered in there by mistake, which is an unusual greeting. She mentioned that they have noodle soup too or at least I think she did.
* Combo banh mi ($ 3): Filled with pork cold cuts, one kind had a chewy rubbery orange shell. The sandwich also featured a very nice toasted chewy baguette, pâté, spicy jalapeño, cucumber, cilantro, not much carrot and no daikon, and a smear of mayo. Overall, the sandwich had good flavor. I liked the pâté and baguette. However, the sandwich didn’t have enough cold cuts or veggies and the cold cuts weren’t sliced thinly enough.
Cash only.

Yes! After my last experience with Banh Mi (see my Bien Hoa review), I needed a good one! I was tempted to go to the spots I’m familiar with (the spots I knew wouldn’t disappoint), but I’m a woman on a mission here! I’m moving across country soon and I need to fill up my «Tender Banh Mi» list. I’ve walked by this place several times before while heading towards Sing Sing. There’s always a crowd of smokers outside. That should be a good sign. When I went in today, it was filled with people inside too. The shop is narrow with seating along the walls and about of the seats were filled. I ordered my «One sandwich to go!» I was not disappointed. No two Banh Mi are the same, but the combo should have the basics… and this one did. The pâté was just right, the pork roll was piled on thick, the carrots were pickled properly (no daikon or onions), the jalapeño was generous, and the seasonings were all there. Still can’t touch my fave spot (Hoang Dat), but I was very satisfied with my $ 3 meal!

I love the combination bread with fried egg. This is a little bit different from other Vietnamese sandwich since it has fried eggs inside. But you got to try it, it is awesome.