Luke’s Vietnamese, 11 Puckle Street, Moonee Ponds. Phone: 9041 7308

Never queue.

Maybe that’s not a Consider The Sauce foundational principle.

But neverthess, it’s one to which we generally adhere.

After all, in the food-laden west, there’s always somewhere else.

But for this Saturday lunch, we do queue.

Because it’s Bennie’s choice and we’re in Moonee Ponds.

Turns out, Luke’s Vietnamese is quite the place to be around Saturday lunch time.

The wait seems long.

Or longish, anyway.

But, yes, it turns out to be a very good call.

The banh-mi we enjoy are pretty much state of the art – and every bit as excellent as the famous banh-mi spots in Footscray, Sunshine and St Albans.

For Bennie, it’s Luke’s Special with charcoal pork and crackling pork ($10).

And a very happy chappy he is, too.

For me, it’s something a little different – Luke’s Favorite 2 with beef in betel leaf ($10).

Now we’re far from being banh-mi specialists and/or addicts.

But I can’t recall seeing this particular banh-mi configuration before.

I’m sure they’re out there, though!

In any case, this one is absolutely tip top in every way!

And the beef cigars have that delectable chewiness in abundance.