With the rising popularity of Vietnamese rolls in Adelaide, it just wouldn’t be right if there wasn’t a local store down Semaphore Road. Located close to the beach, Yummy Banh Mi is situated amongst popular pubs, cafes and restaurants.

As their name suggests, Vietnamese meat rolls are their specialty with 8 types of filling to choose from. There’s also a small selection of salads and cold rolls, gourmet rolls, snacks and beverages.

The store looks nice and well presented with the prominent use of green. There are only 4 seats inside which weren’t particularly clean when I was there.

For lunch, I ordered the Roast Pork Roll. The roll was made on the spot and was average in presentation. The roast pork was well marinated, tender and succulent. Some morsels of meat were a bit fatty, however, as a whole, there was good proportion of meat and crunchy skin.

The coriander was fresh and the cucumber added a nice crunchy texture. The pickled carrot was sweet and tangy, which complemented the natural sweetness of the red onion. The fresh chilli provided good heat, while the egg mayonnaise made the roll well balanced. I’m not a big fan of lettuce because I think it makes it less authentic, however, this place chooses to include it in their roll. The major let down was the roll. It was just soft with no crustiness whatsoever.

The staff were friendly and the service was fast and efficient. The atmosphere was relaxed, even with the busy lunch hour rush. The pricing is very reasonable, with my roll costing me $5.20. With most of their menu between the $5-$6 mark, this place is probably one of the cheapest places to eat in the area.

Verdict: If they had a better bread roll supplier and scrapped the lettuce, they’d pretty much have a decent roll.

WHERE: 48 Semaphore Rd, Semaphore