Henry's bubble tea and vietnamese sandwiches

belzjm wrote: why in the world would another vietnamese and bubble tea place open 2 blocks from hancos? makes no sense.

at least open up in the north slope or on 5th.

already, i'm not impressed.

agreed. instead on cornering the north slope market, you're only going to share the profits in south slope.

Does Henry's have any kind of pedigree? Is it related to any of the (good) Vietnamese places? God help us if we end up with a good but pricey (Hanco's) and a just-plain-shitty joint mere blocks from each other.

Belz wrote,

"why in the world would another vietnamese and bubble tea place open 2 blocks from hancos? makes no sense."

It makes perfect sense. Hanco's is just not very good and is pricey for certain items like drinks. The neighborhood can support how many sushi, Thai, burger restaurants, etc? Surely a second, perhaps better or different Vietnamese restaurant will fit right in. I am looking forward to it and hope they have a menu with more variety. I also hope they don't attract the Hanco's teeny bopper crowd.

I would like to see another diner, perhaps a little more upscale version of Little Purity around that block.

independent mind wrote: Just went there and have to say, the bubble teas are delightfully not too sweet the way so many can be. They also less 'creamy' than the versions that tend to use creamer type additive, I think they offer you the option of milk/soy milk. Seem to taste much healthier and more refreshing....

Wow they opened already? Did you also try a bahn mi? Can you please tell us how it compares with Hanco's in terms of price and variety? Thanks!

I hope they have a bigger menu than Hanco's...Bun, anyone?

belzjm wrote: wingedearth:

there is an amazing new coffee shop which just opened on berkeley place between 6th and 7th...it's called cafe regular du nord.

http://newyork.grubstreet.com/2009/07/caf_regular_du_nord_serves_la.html

the trade winds place which closed on 7th between lincoln and berkeley is becoming a beauty salon. paper is already up in the windows. they rented that space fast.

Oh, I might have seen that Cafe. I'll stop by for breakfast one of these days and check it out.

I'm glad Trade Winds won't be a black hole anymore. I was at Park Cafe over the weekend and sat there staring out at two side-by-side vacancies between Ace and Leaf & Bean. That's what I was thinking of.

Back on track... Henry's had a sign saying they are opening on the 20th.

With all the Hanco's bashing here, just wanted to throw in my own two cents:

Hanco's is overpriced, and slow, but both the Banh Mi and the bubble teas are very good.

Perhaps not the best in NY - I often drive to Ba Xuyen for my fix - but very good nonetheless. If only they'd drop all prices by $1 and get into a quicker groove, I'd give them top marks.

Isn't Hank(os) short for Henry?

Yep...just saw the menu. Same as Hanco's and no meatball banh mi. Whatevs...

SouthSlopeSuit wrote: Uh, there's no attachments here, so I can't share... but I just got my filthy little hands on Henry's Menu.... here's what it looks like:

Imagine Haco's Menu. OK? Got a clear picture of it...? OK, now just replace the "Hanco's" with "Henry's". You're done. Same format, same paper, samee layout, same fonts, same descriptions.

Everything is 25-75 cents cheaper, and each category has one more selection (one more sandwich, one more salad, two more tea flavors, etc. Plus these guys scratch the fancy hot teas and offer smoothies instead.

I hope my kids are safe at home when this thing gets settled in the street...

I didn't think your post could actually have been literal, but then my husband brought back a Henry's menu tonight. Holy crap, you were spot on. Everything is identical to the Hanco's menu. Everything, down to the exact fonts and layout. Wow. Either the two establishments are related or we're got some serious Vietnamese smackdown coming...

I like the phrase vietnamese smackdown

I found out today Henry used to work for Hanco's at Bergen st location. He stole all Hanco's receipts and some workers to open this location. Seems like Henry has no idea from himself, you can tell by looking at the menu and the name of the store. There will probably be a banh mi war!

awesome!