Originally published by Two Thousand in 2015
Everyone’s got their favourite banh mi spot. That magical place that can feed you a football’s worth of meat, carbs and vegies for less than five bucks. For mine, the best pork roll can be found at Marrickville Pork Roll and the best chicken banh mi is at KK Bakery in Cabramatta. But the best all rounder? Is that something that any sane person should care about? Probably not, but I will fight anyone at my height or shorter who tries to tell me that Sydney has a better overall banh mi spot than Bay Ngo in Bankstown.
There are three factors that give Bay Ngo the edge over the competition, and will present those factors now like a passionate public school debater. Factor number one is the range. You could visit Bay Ngo ten times and still not have tried the extent of their banh mi menu. There’s almost ten kinds of pork on offer alone, plus chicken (hot or cold), meatballs and hot fish, something I’ve not seen anywhere else in Sydney. They’re all top notch, thanks in part to the second factor, vegetables. Too often a banh mi is brought down by an uninspired mess of grated carrot, onion and, at the worst of spots, iceberg lettuce. You can see Bay Ngo’s counter from outside, a colourful collection of fresh slices of cucumber, sping onions and coriander. Best of all is the mix of pickled carrot, daikon and red onion, which do their best to outweigh the chillies that you’ll toughly agree to when asked if you want them on your roll, before cowering in pain and getting white boy hiccups. Totally worth it.
Overlooking equally important factors like a well stocked drinks section and some impressive takeaway desserts, the third factor that really lets Bay Ngo kick the dick of the competition is the price point. All their sandwiches are $3.50. Next time you wanna spend $100 on a fancy lunch, get a Silver Service cab (ooh la la) to Bankstown and back. You’ll have just enough left over for a banh mi and drink.
Where
49 Old Town Plaza, Bankstown
When
Mon-Sun, 9am-5pm
How much
$3.50
