A shumai sandwich incorporates meatballs, cucumbers, carrots and cilantro at SP Cafe, a Vietnamese sandwich shop, bakery and coffee shop at the Park North Shopping Center. The menu also includes fried egg rolls with pork and shrimp.

My first taste of the Vietnamese restaurant SP Cafe came at a Lunar New Year festival at Lien Hoa Buddhist Temple on the city’s Northeast Side. The swirling colors and vibrant energy of the party were reflected in the colors and flavors of the cafe’s boba tea, bobbing with tapioca pearls at SP’s booth in the heart of the action.

SP Cafe’s casual counter-service environment at Park North shopping center next to North Star Mall isn’t as picturesque as that setting, but it’s a window to a wider world of Vietnamese specialties, including steaming bowls of pho, a rainbow of specialty teas and smoothies, pastel rows of macarons and other French pastries and an array of Vietnamese banh mi sandwiches on house-baked bread.

The classic Vietnamese banh mi sandwich is characterized by cold cuts and pâté with mayonnaise and a painter’s box of colorful vegetables and herbs, including cucumbers, carrots, jalapeños and cilantro.

But the bread’s the key to the whole thing: sturdy enough to carry the load, light enough to bite through without pushing everything on the inside to the outside. Simple, right? Not at all.

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A Vietnamese banh mi sandwich incorporates ham, pork, pâté, cucumbers, jalapeños, carrots and cilantro at SP Cafe, a Vietnamese sandwich shop, bakery and coffee shop at the Park North Shopping Center. The sandwich goes well with Vietnamese iced coffee, left, and a taro smoothie.

SP Cafe is a Vietnamese sandwich shop, bakery and coffee shop at the Park North Shopping Center.

A variety of Vietnamese sandwiches — including a barbecued pork char siu sandwich, front — are available at SP Cafe, a Vietnamese sandwich shop, bakery and coffee shop at the Park North Shopping Center.

A grilled beef sandwich is dressed banh mi-style with carrots, cucumbers, jalapeños and cilantro at SP Cafe, a Vietnamese sandwich shop, bakery and coffee shop at the Park North Shopping Center.

A shredded chicken sandwich is dressed banh mi-style with carrots, cucumbers, jalapeños and cilantro at SP Cafe, a Vietnamese sandwich shop, bakery and coffee shop at the Park North Shopping Center.

SP Cafe is a Vietnamese sandwich shop, bakery and coffee shop at the Park North Shopping Center.

The sandwich menu at SP Cafe, a Vietnamese sandwich shop, bakery and coffee shop at the Park North Shopping Center

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Location: 602 NW Loop 410, Suite 126, in the Park North shopping center, 210-541-9689, savoureuxcafe126.com

Hours: 8:30 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday-Thursday; 8:30 a.m.-10:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday; 9 a.m.-8:30 p.m. Sunday

Bread’s a science, and the scientists — OK, bakers — at SP Cafe have perfected the formula with bread that behaved like a cross between the sturdy baton of a baguette and the ephemeral floss of flake pastry. The crust domed over the sandwich like the flame-torched shell of a crème brûlée, a shell that yielded and crackled on the bite, giving way to an interior as light as the deep center of a loaf of bread fresh from the oven.

The sandwiches in this report share the same building blocks of bread and veggies. It’s the proteins that change to bring different levels of flavor and balance.

Best sandwich: The bread was just the beginning of SP Cafe’s basic Vietnamese banh mi ($5.55). Cold-cut layers of ham and pork loaf united with a creamy spread of mayo and liver pâté for an iron-rich core of protein, salt and fat. In turn, that richness was balanced by julienned carrots and cucumbers, backed up by the heat and florals of sliced jalapeños and cilantro.

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Other sandwiches: SP’s barbecued pork char siu banh mi ($6.55) left no doubt who was in charge: the meat sliced long and thin with caramelized edges to amplify its smoky character. The same protein supremacy held true for the grilled beef banh mi ($6.55), but I had to lower my evaluation down to the level of beef itself, with a texture like thin slices of meatloaf, both grainy and slick at the same time.

Shredded chicken ($6.55) carried the same consistency and taste as chicken salad, which turned out to be the right neutral canvas to emphasize the high notes of the veggies. A shumai banh mi ($5.55) with soft meatballs shifted the flavor balance more toward the meat, but not aggressively, playing off the meat’s herbal aromatics.

I appreciate the variety, but in a cafe with 10 sandwich options, 10 different soups and bowls of pho plus spring rolls, steamed buns and chicken wings, that classic Vietnamese cold-cut banh mi is where my heart goes every time.

msutter@express-news.net | Twitter: @fedmanwalking | Instagram: @fedmanwalking

Mike Sutter is the Express-News restaurant critic. Before joining the Taste Team in 2016, he served as restaurant critic for the Austin American-Statesman and editor of FedManWalking.com. He's appeared on NPR's "All Things Considered," ABC's "To Tell the Truth" and written for The Guardian, Bon Appetit and The Wall Street Journal.