Little Devil Cakes & Bakery

Five stars simply for the bánh mi.
The pork ones are great, the egg ones are vegetarian and even better. The pickled carrots are so nom.
It’s a dodgy little place, but the staff are lovely, it’s super quick and you really can’t beat this for a $ 4.80 lunch.
(It’s cash only)

Call me slow, but I only found this place after raving about Roll Café around the corner. Now I know why the place is so empty — those looking for delicious Banh Mi are all coming here. Prices are slightly better than the local competitor ($ 4.50 — $ 5), but it shows. With its regrettable signage and clean but murky interior, Little Devil fits the Banh Mi décor scheme.
Behind the counter, two friendly ladies tag-​team the salad bar, throwing together your usual selection of rolls — Pork, chicken, egg, etc. I went for the BBQ pork, while my friend went for plain old pork. Mine came packed with slivers of still-​warm Vietnamese-​style pork; his was a mixture of devon-​style meat products. Not that there’s anything wrong with a bit of devon, but it was pretty clear who won this round.
My request for chilli was ignored, but for once I was okay with that. Just the right amount of pâté and mayonnaise had been smeared over the roll. FYI, the roll itself was a golden shell filled with feather light bread, which is to say, excellent.

Banh Mi Thit for lunch yes please!!! Ignore the shitty location and the look of the shop front. Choose of about five different types of roll. I went for BBQ Pork and Pork Skin. Crusty white roll (still warm from the oven) pâté, mayo, carrot, lettuce, coriander, cucumber, chilli, big hunks of BBQ pork and lots of stringy pork skin pieces, finished off with a special fish-​sauce-​lime-​juice-​soy type of sauce over the top — this cost $ 4.60 (lettuce 30c extra). Pork not your thing then go the staple chicken roll. Yummo!!!

I don’t suppose Little Devil will charm and allure you from the outside. In fact, I wouldn’t judge you if you had quite the opposite reaction. This little hole in the wall on Broadway (oh so near the Kings Court brothel), is pretty darn unassuming.
I had heard tales… I had heard tales that this bakery does a mean roast pork Vietnamese sandwich. And for cheap. I stepped up to the counter and ordered one up. Starting with a white crusty roll, the lady spread a thin layer of pâté on the bread and reached for the meat. Enter my first quandary; the pork was definitely processed, cut in long strips and tinted strange colors. She used on strip that was kinda brownish and another that was kind of reddish. Trying not to psyche myself out of enjoying my lunch, I shifted focus from that peculiarity as quickly as I could. The lady finished off my sandwich with some cucumber, coriander, carrots, chilli and a couple different sauces. At a mere $ 4, I was prepared to like it no matter what it tasted like, just because it was cheap.
I crossed the street to Victoria Park, took a seat on a bench and gave my sandwich a try. I found the salad and the bread to be very fresh. The meat didn’t taste as slimy as I thought it would and any strange flavour there was cancelled out by the kick of the chilli. I was barely able to finish the whole thing which made me believe that this is possibly the best $ 4 I had ever spent on lunch.