N. Lee Bakery

N Lee opened Collingwood in 1991, expanding to Little Collins Street in 2007 and Collins Street in 2010, but the original store has not received a glow-up – it remains a no-frills, sparsely decked out bakery where bread is baked in-house, daily. N Lee’s mid-priced pork loaf roll is soft and fluffy but lacks an outer shell with good crunch, and the mixed hams aren’t as fresh, varied or firm as the others we tried. The chillies are far from ornamental and the generous proportion of pork liver pâté, pickled carrots and daikon, fresh cucumber and coriander to sliced cold cuts makes it a real winner. The thinly sliced slabs of tofu in the vegetarian bánh mì are marinated in a soy concoction and is sandwiched amongst the usual deluge of pickled and fresh vegetables along with a garnish of fried shallots, elevating it into an option meat-eaters should consider.