The great banh mi debate: delicious 100 reveals tight rivalry for Sydney’s best pork rolls

The delicious. 100 has revealed a loyal split between two Sydney venues, Marrickville Pork Roll and Hong Ha. Which is your favourite banh mi destination? Vote now.

The pork roll is Sydney’s favourite sandwich, with an impressive amount of Vietnamese bakeries peppered across the city.

The name translates to ‘bread’ in Vietnamese, but just as important are the fillings, which might include cha lua – a steamed ham sausage seasoned with fish sauce – as well as barbecue pork and chicken.

Cabramatta has no shortage of banh mi bakeries, with famous offerings like Viet HOA Hot Bread, Tony’s Bakery, Universal Hot bread, Vinata’s Hot bread, serving up tasty torpedoes at all hours.

This year’s delicious. 100 revealed a tight rivalry between two popular pork roll shops – Hong Ha in Mascot and Marrickville Pork Roll in Marrickville. We visited both venues and spoke to those in the queue to settle this debate once and for all. Which is your favourite? Let us know in the comments.

Hong Ha

This modest shop in Mascot has been slinging banh mi for 30 years – and the queue can sometimes feel just as long.

The best banh mi debate is raging in Sydney, with Hong Ha one of two favourites.

There’s something comforting about this tiny tiled shop on Botany Road, which has only enough room for a sandwich counter, manned by three ladies continuously slicing and stuffing. The queue spills out onto the street, blocking at least two other shopfronts, with the wait times extending beyond 30 minutes at lunch.

Hong Ha is beloved for its super crusty baguettes, with the bread baked at the back of the shop, with hot new loaves coming out throughout the day. The outside is flaky enough to shower you in crumbs (don’t eat in the car), while the inside remains light and fluffy.

Hong Ha is a popular Vietnamese bakery at Mascot. Picture: Jenifer Jagielski

The classic pork roll comes filled with two types of cha lua sausage, along with the usual characters – mayo, pate, cucumber, carrot and coriander included. But it's the crispy pork that people queue for, featuring fat slabs of pork belly capped with super crunchy crackling. The chilli chicken, which contains a stealth bomb of birds eye chilli, is another hot contender.

Marrickville Pork Roll

A Banh Mi from Marrickville Pork Roll, which is battling for the title of Sydney’s best.

This popular Vietnamese bakery is on a roll. What started as a hole-in-the-wall shop in its namesake suburb now operates three venues across Sydney – and it’s still not enough to keep up with demand.

Marrickville Pork Roll – one of the pork rolls with chilli. Picture: Jenifer Jagielski

If you’re not in the queue, you’re hanging around on the Illawarra Road corner eating your banh mi in the street.

The bread is fresh, but the focus here is the fillings. They offer a more generous swipe of pate, and more herbs and pickles, giving this roll a fresher and tangier taste.

There’s three types of pork, cha lua sausage, neon pink barbecue pork and the crackling belly, plus Vietnamese meatballs and there’s even a vegan version for the Inner Westies.

The added ingredients also make for a bigger portion, you’ll need two hands to hold it all together and a strong appetite to finish it all.

Check out Sydney’s 5 best banh mi and vote for your favourite now at delicious100.com.au.