While I love Canberra and the cuisine it has to offer, there are a few foods I’ve had to keep going back to Sydney for to get my fix, as they’re either not here or not readily available. One of these is bánh mì (Vietnamese pork rolls, or sometimes chicken or other variations). So I was super excited to discover that Roll’d, one of the places rolling into town as part of the Canberra Centre food court (sorry, couldn’t help myself), would be selling it. Bánh mì five minutes from my place instead of three hours? Yes, please!

I’m not ashamed to admit that there was a lot of excited exclaiming and possibly even a squeal when I found out (I’m totally not alone though—some of my friends reacted the same way when I told them the news). But then there was the question—would it be any good? Obviously, the only way to find out was to go to Roll’d and see for myself; all in the name of research, of course.

Although I was going to go off my own bat, I was lucky enough to get an invite to try it and to have a chat to one of Roll’d’s founders, Tin Ly. Tin, along with his cousin Bao Hoang and their friend Ray Esquieres, opened the first Roll’d eatery in Melbourne in June 2012. Since then, its growth has been remarkable—another Melbourne store in 2012 was followed by 12(!) stores in 2013, including their first interstate forays, into Brisbane and Canberra.

In the Roll’d world, Tin is known as Mr Hospitality, and has helped set up 11 of the 14 stores. “Bao and Ray keep trying to get me to step back and work in the office,” he told me, “but I still keep working in the stores because I enjoy it so much.”

Tin explained that what sets Roll’d apart from similar eateries—and one of the main reasons for its success—is its focus on the entire customer experience: good but speedy service, good food, and information and education about the food. His enthusiasm for the last point was evident as he told me about how much he enjoyed answering customers’ questions and being able to teach them about the food, for example The B (bún, a Vietnamese rice noodle salad), which is a dish that people aren’t as familiar with compared to something like pho. He also says that people are encouraged to eat at Roll’d because they can see the food being made fresh (reflected in Roll’d’s slogan, “Wrapped in freshness, daily”).

The subject of the food then led to the main purpose of my visit—to try it! However, upon being asked what I wanted to eat, I found myself faced with a dilemma. While I’d initially had my heart set on bánh mì, everything else on the menu looked really good as well. Apart from Mr Bun Mee (Roll’d’s cute nickname for bánh mì), there were also Roll’d Soldiers (rice paper rolls), Uncle Pho (pho – Vietnamese rice noodle soup), The B and Classique Vietnamese Salads (gỏi).

As some of you probably know from my previous posts, usually I have someone with me to cajole into sharing so I can try as many things as I can. But on this occasion I was alone, and not convinced I could finish full serves of multiple dishes (shocking, I know). But Tin, living up to his name of Mr Hospitality, came up with a perfect solution: to give me a little bit of everything!

I was subsequently presented with an impressive-looking tray of food, which included a cup of chicken pho, a cup of lemongrass beef bún (Tin’s favourite flavour), half a pork and crackling bánh mì (Roll’d’s most popular flavour), two Roll’d Soldiers (soft shell crab and avocado, the crowd favourite, and pork and prawn, Tin’s favourite) and a cup of Vietnamese iced tea (very similar to the sweet iced tea that’s one of my favourite Indonesian drinks).

Tin left me to enjoy my meal and I tucked in with gusto (and was later embarrassed to hear that while I was stuffing my face he’d been looking over occasionally to see if I was enjoying the food—I’m not the tidiest eater at the best of times, can’t imagine what he thought).

I started with the chicken pho. I have to be honest, I don’t have a basis for comparison as I’ve only ever eaten rare beef pho. While the chicken pho was nice, it seemed a little plain, but that was easily fixed by adding the hoisin sauce that came with it (it also came with chilli, but as you may know, I’m a chilli wuss).

I then moved onto the lemongrass beef bún (The B), which I found really surprising. I don’t know why, I had assumed it would be nice but I was surprised at how much I liked it. As I was eating it, I was thinking that it would be a great meal in summer. While salads are good hot weather food, I’m not a big fan of eating leafy greens with dressing, but for me The B was a perfect salad compromise—there were veggies, it was refreshing, but it was also very tasty and filling because of the vermicelli noodles and beef.

Although I was starting to feel a bit full, I moved on to my pork and crackling bánh mì with enthusiasm. As you know, the bánh mì was what I was most looking forward to, and thankfully, I was not disappointed. The crackling was crispy, the pork was delicious, the bread was the right level of crusty on the outside and soft on the inside, and the accompaniments inside the roll provided just the right balance of flavours (as I’m writing this I’m now wondering how soon I can go back and get another one, this is giving me a craving). I probably ate it more quickly than I should have, but it was just so good!

Finally, I was left with the Roll’d Soldiers, the store’s biggest drawcard (there’s even a separate register for those just wanting to buy Soldiers). While I could only squeeze in half of the pork and prawn one, it was delicious and fresh. I ate the remaining half and the soft shell crab and avocado one later, and am pleased to report that they were also tasty and, while filling, felt quite light so I wasn’t overfull.

So, what’s next for Roll’d in Canberra? Tin said that while the “grab and go” option is the most popular, he’s had a lot of enquiries in Canberra about corporate catering, so they might be looking into that. He also said he’s thinking about the winter menu, as Roll’d plans its seasonal menu six months in advance, as well as what new flavours they might introduce. I personally can’t wait to see what they have in store. And to eat another bánh mì.

The author dined courtesy of Roll’d.