If anybody has been to Chinatown down where the old food court is, they would be familiar with Banh Mi. Well, they happen to have another store at Grenfell Plaza, right behind the Hugo Boss store on Grenfell Street. Besides the fact I was craving for a Vietnamese roll, I couldn’t help notice the busy lunch time crowd. There was a line 20 deep waiting to get their fix. They’ve certainly opened in a great location with plenty of foot traffic. This store is a bit larger than their Moonta Street store, it’s nicely decorated and they even have their own seating.

When I waiting in line I noticed their Roast Pork rolls were $7.50. Overpriced in my opinion considering a few metres down the road, you can get the same product for $5. It also didn’t hit me at the time that I had been to the same store in Chinatown. Anyway, the service was fast and efficient like a well oiled machine. In less than 5 minutes, my Roast Pork roll was ready. While trying to find a seat at this place, I’d like to point out that they need a person manning the floors to clean the tables. The table I was sitting at was filthy with bits of food from the previous person who sat there.

After the first few bites, I noticed their roast pork filling was slightly different. They were very thin slices with no crackling skin. I thought perhaps it was roast pork cooked the western way and then shoved into a bread roll. After getting half way through, I realised they had put the wrong filling in my roll, even though the paper bag had “roast pork” ticked on it and the lady behind the counter specifically told me it was a roast pork roll. I was not impressed, but since I was half way through it, I decided to let it go. The filling was in fact “cha lua” which is a traditional Vietnamese pork ham, similar to fritz. This would normally cost $5.90 which is overpriced in itself.

Their sui mai base (pork mince with tomato and spices) was quite nice and added depth to the roll. The Vietnamese aioli was present but I couldn’t really taste it. The roll was loaded with coriander and pickled carrot which was fantastic. The vegetables were fresh and the cucumber and pickled carrot added a nice crunchy texture. The chilli added a bit of excitement and the soy dressing wasn’t over applied. The bread roll was fresh and crusty, which is the way it should be.

The staff were friendly and the atmosphere was vibrant with the busy lunch time crowds. This place is just over priced for what you get, and I remember telling myself that when I visited their Chinatown store. Further more, they got my order wrong and instead I paid for an over priced roll full of processed meat.

I was hoping my experience here would be better than their other store. It wasn’t, in fact, it was worse.

WHERE: 2/25 Grenfell St, Adelaide