Banh Meats and Co., Burwood

One Sunday afternoon, I head to Banh Meats and Co in Burwood with a group of the FCBA foodie friends. I'm of Vietnamese heritage so I was keen to see what Banh Meats and Co. is all about. 

So first of all you should know that that Banh Meats and Co. is located just off the main strip of Burwood. It's quite a small little store with a few tables. 

I soon find out that it's like a modern Asian Fusion version of the Vietnamese Banh Mi bread rolls. They are also known for their cake shakes whereby the actually throw in an entire cake into a milk shake. Interesting concept. I am intrigued as I look at the passionfruit cheesecake. 

Their signature and one of the most popular dishes is the roast pork roll. I look at that crackling (above) and can understand why customers may want a piece of that! So what usually happens on the FCBA events is that we order a bunch of dishes, we go crazy taking photos and then we eat! So while people start standing on chairs, holding multiple burgers on one another, I snap photos and patiently get hungry! Matt's not able to join me for this one so all the photos are taken on the iphone.

The Banh Meats and Co. menu has a variety of choices including Rolls, Burgers and Loaded fries. While people are taking photos, I take a few sneaky potato gems to keep me going while we take photos.

So it's time to eat now and I'm overwhelmed with all the choices. I decide to get straight into the fried chicken. The chicken ribs are $5 and come with pickles (hurrah, I love pickles). The chicken is crispy and really enjoyable to eat. The fried chicken is really nice with the pickles as it comes through the flavours. As you can imagine the chicken burger ($12.50) is made from a similar coating which is crunchy. The burger is served up with slightly radished carrot and mayonnaise. 

I also get straight into a grilled beef roll ($12.50 or $15 in a combo). The bread is quite dense and thick if that's how you like it. It's quite a full flavour and rich roll with mayonnaise, pickled carrot and coriander. It's a very modern adaptation of the traditional banh mi with Asian touches.

Part of me is craving the authentic and lighter banh mi but this does make for a good sandwich if you put any banh mi comparisons aside. 



You can construct your own loaded fries by ordering a bunch of sides together. I think you should definitely try some of their loaded fries. I try two versions. The first has chips, grilled beef, fried eggs with a side of pickles, onion, carrot and spring onion. What a twist on the traditional halal snack pack. I love fries so I lap this up.

The second loaded dish I try is a mac and cheese dish with soft shell crab which comes with a saffron mayonnaise. Due to it's colour, I for some reason expect mustard but get a different taste obviously. The loaded dishes are quite heavy so I definitely recommend you sharing the dishes. There's this really tasty XO chilli sauce that you could ask for which seems to go really well with the chips and mac and cheese.

A group of us also get to see how the cake shakes are made. They literally throw one of those mini cakes into a blender along with ice cream and milk. I definitely recommend the oreo shake. It's delish.

Summary: If you're hungry and you know it, bring a group of friends and share food at Banh Meats and Co.  My favourites are the fried chicken ribs, loaded mac and cheese or loaded fries with the grilled beef all washed down with an oreo shake or cola. Be ready to consume serious calories.

I think the bread is a bit heavy/dense but this comes down to preference. For this reason, I probably prefer the burgers to the rolls.

Price: $10-$15

Location: 2 Mary St, Burwood

Opening Hours: 
Monday to Thursday 7am to 4pm
Friday 7am to 9pm
Weekends 10am to 4pm

Weekend Food Escapes dined as guests of the venue or their representatives. All photos, opinions and words are my own.