Kenny Bakery Cafe

I liked Kenny's more the first times I ate at branches of this sandwich chain. It's not like they're BAD or anything, but I've been getting a lot of work in Footscray and Sunshine recently, which has given me the excuse to eat bunches of banh mi at hole-in-the-wall Vietnamese restos there. Noting like having the real thing to remind you what a sub should be. I can see how the Kenny's zeitgeist is to use Anglo ingredients such as chicken schnitzel and meatballs while giving them the Vietnamese sub sanger treatment. They lack the "bazinga!" that a proper banh mi has, though.

Craving some banh mi, the troupe of travellers hopped off the free tourist bus and headed in. Some were distracted by the local Subway, but the committed stayed strong. Can't say that it was the best decision, but Kenny's definitely has a huge range of banh mi. The sad part of it was that the traditional Vietnamese sanga is supposed to be street food, affordable, fresh and available to the everyday person. At $7-$9, with gourmet fillings this isn't the typical cultural experience you're going to get. What's worse was I expected, when I ordered my chicken roll, to have the regular trad stuff put on: mayo, pat, pickled carrots, fresh strips of cucumber, spring onion, coriander, soy sauce and chilli. But the staff serving me left half the ingredients off, rolled their eyes and huffed when I asked the them to add the things I could remember were missing. I'd go there for a pork roll, if I was desperate, but probs wouldn't go there again.