Xuan Banh Cuon

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232 Hampshire Road, Sunshine, 9364 8992

My score: 3/5

Within a few minute’s walk of Sunshine’s shiny new train station, in the western hub’s not-so-shiny shopping strip, a hungry person can choose from Indian, African, Chinese, Latin American, Italian and Afghani menus. Among all this multi-culti yum, a tasty little pocket of Hai Phong is thriving. Specialties from the northern Vietnamese port city don’t make much of an appearance in Melbourne so it’s exciting to come and eat steamed rice paper rolls (banh cuon), red noodles with crab paste (banh da cua) and sticky rice cakes.

The banh cuon are made from rice flour batter that’s steamed over cloth to form translucent crepes – owner Xuan T Dinh crafts them daily at the counter. The classic version (number 1 on the menu) is filled with sauteed pork, prawn, and mushroom slivers, then rolled and topped with crisp onions and pork floss (pounded dried pork fluff, made here). I would eat these sticky, springy cylinders every day if I could, dunked in a bowl of sour, salty nuoc cham (fish sauce) that mostly runs down my arm. Slices of pork loaf nestle against the crepes, a sturdy terrine that’s a reminder of Vietnam’s French colonial history.

Crab paste is another Hai Phong tradition. Whole crabs are boiled, smashed, then formed into loose meatballs. The pungent paste turns up in a few dishes, most notably in a filling soup (number 6) with slippery red rice noodles tangled with beef-stuffed vine leaves, raw onion, tofu and fish cakes in a deeply porky base. At a neat $3, sticky rice stuffed with sweet bean paste (number 22) is one of the cheapest and most satisfying snacks in town. More familiar pho (noodle soups) and dry vermicelli noodle dishes also feature on a pleasingly tight menu that only runs to 23 items.

The food is good, cheap and fast but Xuan Banh Cuon is a basic experience otherwise, with wall-mounted TV, humming fridges, chatty exhaust fan and functional but not quite friendly service. I’m not sure that the old pie warmer is a great place to keep a dustpan but maybe it’s all over Pinterest tagged as ‘storage solutions’.

Sunshine isn’t on everyone’s itinerary but a zone two Metro trip is a cheap way to get the world on your plate and Xuan Banh Cuon is a tasty port of call.

More Vietnamese:

Uncle, 188 Carlisle Street, St Kilda, 9041 2668
The little bowls of pho are my favourite thing about this hip Vietnamese restaurant and bar, because they leave you room for stuff like the cured fish on betel leaves and the lemongrass steak with yuzu butter.

Dandelion, 133 Ormond Road, Elwood, 9531 4900
The desserts are worth a visit alone, inspired by street snacks and incorporating plenty of Frenchy chic and technique. Consider the chocolate delice with toasted rice and chai sorbet or the affogato with coffee-soaked tapioca.

Pho Hung Vuong 2, 2/15 Balmoral Avenue, Springvale, 9558 5147
The queues out the door tell a happy story about the pho inside. Once you’re in, enjoy clean, long-simmered broths, heaps of fresh ingredients and sub-$10 price tags.

First published in The Age, March 9, 2014.