An Xuyên: the bánh mì baguette, plus doughnuts and mochi

Plenty of people in Foster-Powell stop into An Xuyên on Southeast Foster Road for a bánh mì and walk out with half the bakery in a bag, and the French-Vietnamese baguette behind that sandwich is the reason the shop is on this map. An Xuyên started commercial production in Salem, opened in Portland in 1995, and has been at 5345 Southeast Foster Road since 2001. It's a no-frills pan-Asian Pacific bakery and deli that's bigger inside than it looks from the street. Macarons, mooncakes, Hawaiian doughnuts and custom cakes all come out of the same kitchen, but the house baguette is what people come for, since it's what makes the sandwich work and it's the bread other kitchens around town buy from them.

Inside, a long, bright counter runs past trays stacked behind glass. The room is set up for ordering and a line builds behind you quickly, so it helps to decide fast. The go-to bánh mì comes with cucumber, pickled carrot and daikon, cilantro and jalapeño on a baguette baked there that morning, crusty at the edges and airy in the middle. Pâté and Vietnamese ham is the classic, and the regular board also has lemongrass pork, chipotle chicken, tofu and faux-meat versions. There's no reason to overthink the sandwich. The harder call is whether to take a second loaf home, because An Xuyên is a bakery first and that French bread is what they've been delivering around Portland for years.

The sweets fill the rest of the counter, and they make a happy detour. The Hawaiian doughnuts are malasada-style and rolled in sugar, and when they're in stock you'll find ube mochi doughnuts, black sesame peanut mochi and coconut-ube versions too. Macarons sit next to ube-and-matcha thousand-layer croissants, guava cookies, Japanese-style cheesecake, chocolate and raspberry tarts, baked flan, and a Tiger Roll that layers pandan sponge with whipped cream. Mooncakes and durian cakes turn up in season, and a Vietnamese iced coffee goes nicely with the sandwich.

Hours start early, and if you're thinking about a Monday trip, check that they're open before you drive down Foster. It's counter service with nowhere to sit for long, so order the sandwich, add the loaf, and then think about sweets. Custom cakes are their own conversation, and the register with six people waiting on bánh mì is the wrong place to start planning one.

An Xuyên has been a fixture on Foster for decades and has never tried to turn itself into a destination patisserie. Get the bánh mì and a second baguette if you're feeding people tonight, add a Hawaiian doughnut or an ube mochi for the car if they have them, and save the custom cake for the day you actually need one.

The essentials are on the An Xuyên Bakery page.