Marrickville Pork Roll ★ 4.7
Sydney's A$5.50 banh mi counter on Illawarra Road, Marrickville. Pork roll with house pate, the city's most-recommended budget lunch. Daily from 7am.
Try: Pork banh mi
History
Vietnamese refugees brought the banh mi to Sydney from the late 1970s, with the first banh mi shops opening on John Street, Cabramatta. The Marrickville Vietnamese diaspora extended the canon into the inner west from the 1990s; Marrickville Pork Roll on Illawarra Road became the iconic A$5 lunch. Sydney's banh mi tradition is now the deepest of any non-Vietnamese city in the world, with KK Bakery's chicken Maryland roll and Phu Cuong's Maggi-heavy classic representing two ends of the style.
Common allergens: Gluten, Egg, Soy
Make it at home
Ingredients
- 4 Vietnamese baguettes (light, crispy crust)
- 400g cooked roast pork or char siu, sliced thin
- 100g pate de campagne (or chicken liver pate), thinly sliced
- 1 large carrot and 1 large daikon, julienned
- 100ml rice vinegar, 50g caster sugar, 1 tsp salt (for pickle)
- 1 cucumber, sliced lengthways into thin strips
- Large handful of fresh coriander leaves
- 2-3 fresh red chillies, thinly sliced
- 4 tbsp Kewpie mayonnaise
- 1 tbsp Maggi seasoning
Method
- Make the pickle: dissolve the sugar and salt in the vinegar with 100ml water; toss the carrot and daikon in the brine and rest for 30 minutes.
- Heat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Warm the baguettes for 3 minutes until the crust is crisp.
- Split each baguette lengthways, leaving a hinge.
- Spread Kewpie mayo on one side and pate on the other.
- Layer the roast pork, drained pickled carrot and daikon, cucumber, coriander and chilli inside.
- Drizzle a few drops of Maggi seasoning over the filling.
- Close the roll and press gently; cut in half if desired, serve immediately.
Tip from the editors. Use a properly crisp, light Vietnamese baguette: most regular bread bakeries make a dense version that crushes the sandwich. Asian bakeries sell the right type.
This is the TableJourney editorial recipe, modelled on the canonical bistro / counter version. The first place to try the dish in its city of origin is below.
Where to eat sydney banh mi
Sydney Banh Mi in Sydney
Phu Cuong ★ 4.5
Cabramatta's classic A$7.50 banh mi counter on John Street, Sydney. Pork, pate, chilli, herbs and pickled veg, just outside the train station.
Try: Banh mi
KK Bakery ★ 4.5
Cabramatta banh mi counter on John Street, Sydney. The marinated chicken Maryland roll is the menu signature; open 7 days from 6:30am, takeaway only.
Try: Marinated chicken Maryland banh mi
Viet Bling ★ 4.4
Viet Bling banh mi on Illawarra Road, Marrickville, Sydney for A$8.50. Hank and Nancy Tran took over the Alex'n'Rolls site in Marrickville in 2026.
Try: Pork banh mi
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