Tis Me Michelle

I was out and about on a Saturday morning and in the mood for a caffeine fix. I looked up coffee shops in the area to scope out a spot I hadn’t tried before. I saw SO MOT wasn’t too far off, and stopped in before heading home.

The Parking: Plenty of parking. It’s situated in a shopping center right next door to an Aldi. Lots of activity between Aldi and other spots in the center. A little hectic, but lots of options.

The Vibe: SO MOT has a super minimalistic vibe. Whites, light wood, clean and simple. A few small tables, one really nice, longer table. I saw someone studying and a couple of small groups hanging out. Not super big, but enough space for a chill hang.

The Bites: I was excited to see Banh Mi on the menu. I didn’t know there were food-food options here. There are 4 Banh Mi options, including a vegan option, which is fantastic. Plus, a Vietnamese Sticky Rice option. Banh Mi’s are one of my favorite sandwiches. I love a baguette, and I prefer grilled pork as my main protein.

I ended up opting for the SOMOT Banh Mi, which had Viet Pork Roll, Viet Ham, and Charsiu along with the usual liver pate, mayo, cucumber, cilantro, jalapeno, and pickled daikon and carrot. So basically cold cut meats. It was good, just not super exciting. I think it’s a solid sandwich. A very good portion sandwich for $8.50. I would be intrigued to try the other flavors. The Crispy Skin Roasted Pork sounds fantastic and would probably be more up my alley, but that one was $11, and I bought more than I thought as it was.

Speaking of, my eyes ordered a milk cream bun. As we know at this point [see drink section of the JUJU post], I LOVE whipped cream. So I saw it and ordered it. My eyes clearly only focused on the whipped cream, cause my brain saw that it was $4.50… But it was $7.50. I would definitely recommend the Banh Mi for a dollar more. Now… The whipped cream was fantastic. Can you do whipped cream wrong? It was on a bun, and the bun itself was unfortunately very dense and dry. But I am not sure if that is the expected texture. I was expecting it to be soft and bouncy, similar to the 1908 buns. If you don’t mind that texture, then it could be worth a try. But I think it is too pricey for whipped cream on a bun.

The Coffee: There’s quite a large variety of drinks, including milk teas, special drinks, smoothies, and slushies. But I was most interested in the Vietnamese Coffee section. Initially, I was going to go for the basic Iced Coffee, which was $5, not terrible for coffee these days. But then I kept looking and I saw a Sea Salt Iced Coffee, which sounded fantastic. All the drinks under the Foam Series sounded delicious.

For a Vietnamese coffee, it wasn’t as strong as others I’ve had. It was the perfect level of strength for me. I appreciated how drinkable it was. And of course, Vietnamese coffees come with condensed milk. I don’t know if it was just condensed milk or how much was in there, but it was a bit too sweet for me. A few notches less sweet, and it would have been perfect. I loved the sea salt foam on top. I am not sure if you can tweak the sweetness. If you don’t mind a coffee leaning sweet, I definitely recommend it, or if you are okay with a treat drink.

Overall: If I’m in the area, I would be interested in trying the other coffee options and possibly that one other Banh Mi. There are other coffee shops I would recommend over this, but if I were a local and hitting up the Aldi next door, I could totally see myself stopping in for a caffeine fix.

Rating: 6.3

Address: 6760 Aloma Ave, Winter Park, FL 32792