Three things I love: Perth’s banh mi royalty share their day on a plate

Each week, WAtoday reaches out to the Perth community to discover three things people love most about our coastal capital. Today features DJ Lee and his wife Emily Lee, who this July will mark their 10th year operating Le Vietnam in Perth city’s Bon Marche Arcade. While performing as a DJ around the world, Lee ensured he tried each city’s take on the traditional Vietnamese sandwich, and when settling in Perth decided to make use of this knowledge. Little Keanu joined the family in 2020 and has since become a well known mascot.

1. I love Perth for its food adventures and how local businesses support each other. Our weekends are jam-packed – recent Saturday mornings start about 7am at La Vista Coffee in Malaga (I need coffee to function); about 7.30am we would head out to Ming’s Bakery in Woodvale to grab some bakery goods (pies, sausage rolls and sweets), making sure to overstock to put some in the freezer for those unexpected craves. We would then drive down to Montello on Main in Osborne Park for some Italian gourmet goodies and cold cuts for spontaneous picnics.

By this time, our lunch stomachs are almost ready, so we head into Kaze Bento in Mount Lawley for a casual Japanese meal before heading to Hyde Park to catch some fresh air while Keanu uses up his energy at the playgrounds. Here we might dig into some antipasto goodies we picked up earlier.

As the sun goes down, we prepare ourselves to head over to Big Don’s Smoked Meats in Bayswater to collect our barbecue tray (that we had ordered on Tuesday – you need speedy fingers to secure your trays). Best to bring LV Rice Lager by Nowhereman, shelved at [specialist bottle shop] Mane Liquor.

We finish off the night with dessert – dark chocolate from Sue Lewis grated over the Cono Gelato range.

We have collaborated with Big Don’s, Deli’s Continentals, Nowhereman and and the list goes on. We help each other, we get to explore new ideas, new products and in turn, the customers also get to try never-before-seen creations. But whether we are collaborating or not, we seek out as many locals as possible; they are all as hardworking as me and Emily, and we adore their hustle.

2. We love Perth for its people, who show so much support to family businesses, especially post-COVID. They flock to our doors every day, and they know our little man, Keanu (3½) who is the real star of the business; he gets more recognised out in the public than us. They are the true reason our banh mis are famous globally – we are a go-to destination for visitors from across the globe, you can see them wheeling through their luggage straight from the airport, to order before their hotel check-in. Being part of people’s travel plans means so much to us, and we cannot thank the public enough.

3. We love Perth for its Vietnamese community, who have shown massive support from the get-go. They love to share and see young generations succeed in what they do, especially when it comes to sharing one of our cultural dishes. They love seeing that Le Vietnam has been able to bring all cultures worldwide together into one little shop. We’ve travelled the world, especially in the days when I was DJ-ing, and we are very lucky to call Perth home.

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