Ignore the sign that says “Sweet Passion Pasticceria Gelateria” at 1200 Jericho Tpke. in New Hyde Park, and focus, instead, on the harder-to-read letters in the window: “Vietnamese Sandwiches.” Sweet Passion closed about a year ago and, replaced earlier this year by Ha Long Bay, named for the stunning bay, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, in Northern Vietnam.
Ha Long Bay’s menu features 10 banh-mi sandwiches ($9 to $11), from classics filled with ham and crumbled pork, chicken or sardines to more recent innovations with tofu, roast duck or portobello mushrooms. All sandwiches on crisp baguettes, stuffed with pickled vegetables and cilantro and can be ordered in varying degrees of spiciness.
The menu also includes five pho (noodle soups. $13); bowls of pork, chicken, tofu, sardine, vegetable or duck served over rice or rice vermicelli ($11) and starters ($7 to $9) such as summer rolls, spring rolls and papaya salad.
On the drinks front: bubble tea and smoothies as well as some justly famous Vietnamese beverages: coffee (hot or iced) made with Cafe du Monde chicory blend and sweetened condensed milk, fresh-squeezed lemonade and fresh coconut juice.
Ha Long Bah is at 1200 Jericho Tpke., New Hyde Park, 516-780-0550.
