Roll In Saigon is a small store on Goodwood Road just before the tram stop. Based on the food keeping warm under their heat lamps, I would say their roast pork, grilled chicken and spring rolls are their best sellers. In the other cabinet, they literally have piles of vegetables for their Vietnamese rolls. This place gets insanely busy, particularly during the lunch hour rush. I was impressed to see the lone store attendant making bread rolls, answering the phone and manning the cash register at the same time.

For lunch, I ordered the Roast Pork Roll. Due to how busy the place was, there wasn’t much care in the making of the roll. All the ingredients were just quickly shoved in and ready within 2 minutes of ordering. A good Roast Pork roll should have an even distribution of ingredients with every bite. This certainly wasn’t the case with my roll today. The roast pork was freshly cooked, however, it tasted bland and was fatty. There were a few nice crunchy bits of pork skin here and there, but the meat as a whole was rather average. The roll was spread with egg mayonnaise, but no pate. There was a generous amount of pickled daikon and carrot, however, they both lacked the subtle sweetness I was expecting. The coriander was fresh and the cucumber provided a nice crunchy texture. The inclusion of Spanish onion provided nice balance, and the bread roll was fresh and crusty.

The staff were friendly but the service was incredibly slow. There were only two people in store, one in the kitchen and one manning the counter. With over a dozen people waiting, there really should have been two people out at the front. I also noticed supply problems with their roast pork. If roast pork is your number one seller, then you should have enough for the busy lunch hour rush. I waited a good 15 minutes before I was served which was way too long. The Roast Pork Roll set me back $5.30 which slightly higher than average. The star of the show was the roast pork, which on this occasion, was a let down.

Tip: If you’re parking out at the back, make sure you get a token so that you can leave the parking area!

WHERE: 126 Goodwood Rd, Goodwood