Num Pang

Every Wednesday, on my way to Nutrition class, I pass a little (emphasis on "little") restaurant on 12th Street near University Place.  It's a small sandwich shop called Num Pang.  My friend works there so I always walk past and shout "HI SARAH!" with a wave as I walk to my 3-hour-long dreary class.  One day, we finally decide to get lunch here, and as luck would have it Sarah wasn't there, but nonetheless we had some delicious food.

Num Pang specializes in Cambodian-style sandwiches.  I'm not that familiar with Cambodian food, but it seems similar to banh mi sandwiches.  I've heard lately that Mario Batali has collaborated with Num Pang to create a sandwich.  When we went there, they were filling an enormous order: two entire cardboard boxes to deliver to some fancy shmancy event.  I was excited: this must have meant their sandwiches were awesome.

And awesome they were.  I had the pulled duroc pork sandwich and Alex had hoisin veal meatball sandwich. We climbed the rickety stairs to the seating area upstairs.  I wondered vaguely why they had little moist towelettes next to the forks and napkins, so I took a handful and it turns out you really need moist towelettes for Num Pang sandwiches.

My pulled pork sandwich was the bomb.  The meat was juicy and flavorful, juicy to the point where juices were running down my fingers and making a big sloppy mess.  There were a few veggies (cucumbers?  shredded carrots?) in the sandwich too but the pulled pork was really the star: I could have eaten a bowl of it. The sandwich turned out to be a little on the small size and a tad expensive, but probably it's best to not overeat and fall into food coma right before class anyway.  In fact, I think I'll ask Sarah for a recipe for the pulled pork so that I can eat a bowl of it...