Xcel Roll must be one of a handful of family-owned Vietnamese bakeries that don’t have ‘hot bread’ in their name. There are always one or two customers inside or sitting outside and on a colleague’s recommendation we stopped by for some bánh mì. Unlike other Vietnamese bakeries we’ve visited, this one gave you a selection of rolls: crispy white, soft white, crispy wholemeal, soft wholemeal and crispy sesame. They also have a variety of rice paper rolls, spring rolls and dim sim.
This is their Classic Pork Roll ($5.50) on a crispy white bun spread with mayonnaise and pate and topped with the usual trimmings of slices of chả lụa, headcheese and pork shank as well as coriander, cucumber and pickled carrots before drizzled with soy sauce. They also offer spring onion, onion and chilli, which we prefer to go without. The bread roll here is crunchy with less of the soft fluffy innards than other bakeries. That said, it does hold the fresh and decently portioned fillings well, soaking up their moisture without becoming soggy.
This place offers a solid bánh mì that keeps us full for the better part of the day and offers some more adventurous options for those inclined. We’ve not tried anything other than their bánh mì, but the stream of customers after their rice paper rolls suggests they’re a solid offering too.