“This is the original and the best Marrickville Pork Roll,” says Nga Du, who co-founded the banh mi shop in a former toilet block with husband Khiem Du in 2008, and moved to a larger space next door in 2021.

Their Vietnamese pork sandwiches are consistently ranked among the city’s best – the white bread rolls are baked fresh (crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside, so large it’s almost intimidating) then slathered with rich pâté and stacked with cold-cut pork, pickled vegetables and fresh salad.

Lengthy weekend queues led to a further four venues opening across Sydney, but Du considers this one, where she works, special: “Because I love it, I put my whole heart into it,” she says. The crackling pork belly is her pick, but all options remain affordable, priced between $8 to $11. Once your sandwich is in-hand, head to the original shopfront with its faded red awning to buy a fresh sugarcane juice from what is now 236 Juice Bar.

Good Food reviews are booked anonymously and paid independently. A restaurant can’t pay for a review or inclusion in the Good Food Guide.