You really can’t get more bang for your buck than Vietnamese street food, with its vast textures and flavor combinations and a satiating comfort that packs a pucker. To me, pho is food for the soul, and the righteous blend of pate, pickled veggies and barbecue pork in a classic bánh mì sandwich feels new every time I bite in. That’s why it’s a great pleasure to welcome the Vietnamese Cafe Phinista to Porter Square. It doesn’t do pho or fresh spring rolls – which you can get across the plaza at Soup Shack or Cafe Zing – but it does offer a killer breakfast menu and rich coffees you really can’t get elsewhere this side of the Charles.
A “phin” is a Vietnamese coffee filter. Most everything on Phinista’s coffee menu is preceded by the prefix “phin” and has condensed milk and/or special house foam added. Even the phin drip, a rich, acrid black coffee, comes with a foamy head. If you want an even richer and creamier sipping experience, let me point you to the classic iced Saigonese, with a light, whipped sugary foam atop (you can specify your degree of sweetness) and, even more exotic, the cà phê trứng, an iced coffee with sweet egg foam. You would not be far off to call it liquid tiramisu.
On the food side, Phinista offers barbecue chicken, barbecue pork, five-spice tofu, lemongrass beef and cold cuts as a bánh mì or in a rice or salad bowl. The baguettes at Phinista are classic and perfect, slightly crisp and flakey on the outside, chewy and fluffy on the inside. A bánh mì baguette (or is it a batard?) is not the same kind as you’d get with ham and brie at a boulangerie, which are longer, chewier and denser. The French had influence on the Vietnamese – colonialism tends to do that – but the bánh (like the French “pain”) here is all their own. Part of that airier consistency is that rice is part of the flour mix.
The cold cut offerings are also not the traditional Boar’s Head – not even close – but pork bologna and spiced ham that smacks of street market authenticity. For my bánh mì I tried out the barbecue chicken, which came as moist, tender nuggets in a tangy-sweet but not cloying sauce. Combined with the pickled carrots and daikon, fresh cilantro, jalapeño heat and a smear of pate, it’s delicious and none too filling. An added pleasure is chowing on the underbelly of the sub, where the ingredient meld, becoming the most savory part of the nosh.
From Phinista’s robust breakfast and sweet crepe menu, you can – and should – try the breakfast bánh mì, which makes a medium fried eggs the centerpiece; the egg yolk becomes part of that delectable mix at the bottom of your baguette. There’s also a Hanoi croissant (smoked bacon, eggs, cheese and fry sauce) and the bánh mì chảo, a meat lovers’ shakshuka gone South-Pac with that cold cut combo (the ham is delish, almost more like Spanish jamon), deconstructed meatballs (not round, just ground meat), those medium-fried eggs and a Vietnamese sausage all in a sweet tomato puree. The eye-popping serving comes in a skillet with a baguette on the side to sop up that zesty puree. The sausage is sweet yet spicy, more akin to a classic sweet Italian sausage than anything from Jimmy Dean. On the crepe slate, there are Nutella spins, but the triberry parfait (with berries, granola, yogurt and whipped cream) is the all-star standout.
Phinista is in a prime locale, across from the Porter Square T at the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue and Upland Road in what had long been a Bruegger’s Bagels. The retooling from its last incarnation (the short-lived Zoe Acai Bar & Juicery) has created more of a cafe vibe with phone chargers, outlets and free Wi-Fi for those who want to sit, sip and work. When you get hungry – and you will – you’ve got options (breakfast all day, a packed bánh mì or from a delectable display of baked goods that during my last visit boasted enticing carrot cake squares). The only downside is having to chose, but given everything sampled on the menu, you can’t lose.
Cafe Phinista, 1876 Massachusetts Ave., Porter Square, Cambridge
Tom Meek is a writer living in Cambridge. His reviews, essays, short stories and articles have appeared in the WBUR ARTery, The Boston Phoenix, The Boston Globe, The Rumpus, The Charleston City Paper and SLAB literary journal. Tom is also a member of the Boston Society of Film Critics and rides his bike everywhere.
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