Vietnamese street food is all the craze at the moment with yet another new store opening on the outskirts of the city. Located in a small complex amongst other shops and eateries is KKY Vietnamese Meat Rolls. This quaint little store is neat and well presented with everything shiny and new. Seating is limited with four seats inside and a handful outside the shop window. The menu is simple and straight forward with a selection of meat rolls, cold rolls and rice noodle dishes on offer.

For lunch, I ordered the Roast Pork Roll. The roll was made on the spot and wasn’t too bad in presentation. While the roll was being made, the store attendant wanted to add chopped spring onions in oil. This would have been a first for me and I almost screamed “no!” as she was about to do it. I did however notice they were a bit conservative with the fillings.

Like everything in life, there’s a right way and wrong way to do things. Cutting a Vietnamese roll is no different. While it seems simple enough, the correct method is to slice on the thicker side of the roll, right in the centre, so that there is enough crust on both top and bottom. Unfortunately, with my roll, the slice occurred more towards the bottom, leaving a thin layer of roll holding the filling.

The roast pork was tender and succulent, and well cooked, however, it wasn’t well marinated and was a little on the bland side. There was nice some meaty and crunchy bits, but some of the morsels were also quite fatty.

The coriander was fresh, and the cucumber added a nice crunchy texture. The spring onion provided a nice natural sweetness while the fresh chilli provided excitement with every bite. The pickled carrot and diakon were crunchy but weren’t tangy or sweet enough.

The egg mayonnaise and pate were noticeably absent, and the roll just tasted dry. The roll itself was of a good quality with the exterior being nice and crusty, and the inside light and airy.

The staff were friendly and the service was fast and efficient. While they saw me taking photos of the roll, I was approached on several occasions and asked how my meal was. I don’t like really like being disturbed while eating, so asking more than once becomes annoying. The atmosphere was relaxed and the pricing is reasonable. The cost of the roll was $4.90, with all of their other dishes below $9.

There’s a fine art to making the perfect roast pork roll. It’s not just a matter of whacking a few ingredients together and thinking everything will be good. The roll has to be a decent size, fresh and crusty, and evenly cut. There has to be a good spread of pate and egg mayonnaise to prevent the roll from being too dry. The vegetables need to be fresh and crisp, and the pickled carrot and daikon has to be sweet and tangy.

The fresh chilli should pack some heat, while either red onion or spring onion should be used to provide natural sweetness. The star of the show, the roast pork, should be well marinated, tender and succulent. The skin should not be overly crunchy and there should a good proportion of meat. The amount of fat on the pork should be minimal. The ingredients should be evenly distributed so you get a taste of everything with every bite. Scrimping on the amount of filling ruins the entire experience.

The roast pork roll I had was average at best.

WHERE: 6A/34 Henley Beach Rd, Mile End