Banh mi. It's Vietnamese for loveliness

I have a friend who has been known to eat pasty sandwiches. To be clear, he'll cut up a Cornish pasty, wrap each bit in cheap white bread and butter and consider that a very fine lunch indeed.

It's not a conventional tea, but it's proof if proof were needed that putting any food into bread makes it that bit better. 

The banh mi is another happy bread-meets-dinner combo. A legacy of France's colonial presence in Vietnam, banh mi is a baguette with veggies and, usually, a meaty filling.

Banhmi11 does sell meat banh mi alas. Not so good. Happily though its temple tofu vegetarian banh mi is vegan too (props to them for  responding to me so quickly when I asked on Twitter.)

There's a crispy baguette, there's some pickled daikon and carrot along with some fresh coriander and cucumber - all good sandwich fillings - but the temple tofu was (if you'll pardon the pun) divine.

Little tofu puffs with a tomato and lemongrass sauce were warmed in the baguette and then chilli-ed up according to my preference. I asked for a fairly spicy banh mi, and found it a little underhot, but that's just splitting hairs - it was still just lovely nonetheless. 

My picture just doesn't do it justice, but I've included it anyway.

Look at it, and imagine the Marks and Spencer 'This is not just food' music gently playing in the background. 

This is not just a sandwich. This is a freaking awesome sandwich.