Pho Hanoi, Rotterdam

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There’s a Vietnamese sandwich place in Rotterdam called Boguette, which makes pretty good sandwiches. It wasn’t until we went to Vietnam that we fully realized that the sandwiches there aren’t very authentic at all, though still flavorful in their own way. A few months ago, some entrepreneurial Vietnamese made a very Asian move by opening up a new place right next to it. Competition! While ordering my inauthentic sandwich one day I asked one of the guys at Boguette if he knew his new neighbors, slightly disgruntled he replied, “No, we don’t know them at all. But I guess there’s nothing we can do about them opening next to us, that’s just market economics.” I asked if he would try the food and he replied that he didn’t want to out of principle. I then suggested it could be good for business to find out what the direct competition is doing. I don’t know if he ever did try it, but I sure did, on two different occasions in fact. And guess what, it’s pretty good and definitely more authentic. (more…)