The BAMI Darwin City

The BAMI, now trading as NT Banh Mi, runs from Shops 22-23, 69 Mitchell Street in the middle of Darwin's hotel and backpacker strip, and it is the fastest proper feed in the CBD. This is a banh mi counter rather than a sit-down restaurant: order at the counter, take a street-side table outside, and eat. The dog-friendly part of the deal is exactly those outdoor tables, which makes it a genuinely easy stop with a dog on the way back from the waterfront.

The dog setup

Dogs are welcome at the casual outdoor seating on Mitchell Street, on lead and close to your chair. There is no enclosed dog area and no bowls set out, so bring a portable water bowl, particularly through the build-up when the footpath heat is real. The pace is fast-casual, so a settled dog while you order and collect works best here.

The vibe

The crispy roasted pork banh mi is the reason people queue: crackling-topped pork belly in a fresh baguette with house-made pate, cucumber, pickled carrot and coriander. The board also runs to pho, rice plates, noodle salads and pork spring rolls, with Vietnamese iced coffee and kumquat iced tea for the heat. Most items sit in the ten to twenty dollar range, which is rare for the Mitchell Street strip. Doors open from 10am Monday to Saturday and 11am Sundays, trading to 9pm most nights and 4pm on Sunday.

Getting there and parking

The shop sits mid-block on Mitchell Street in the Darwin CBD. Metered street parking along Mitchell can be tight at lunch, with paid garages on Knuckey and Bennett Streets a short walk away. Walking in from the surrounding hotels takes minutes.

Close by with the dogs

Make it a loop: Bicentennial Park is a few minutes walk with shaded clifftop grass, and the Darwin Waterfront is downhill the other way. For a longer outing, the botanic gardens welcome dogs on lead about five minutes drive away. In the suburb itself, Roma Bar is a Darwin institution for coffee, and Snapper Rocks covers dinner on the same side of town.