Whenever someone mentions Vietnamese food, Cay tre pops in my head, I’ve been many times in the area of old street/Shoreditch but never felt hungry enough to pop in to eat.
Finally I settled a date with friends to head to the branch in Old street; it was still quite busy on a Sunday night. Kim and I waited patiently for my other friends to join us. Once seated I flicked through the menu, although to my heart content I already knew I was going to order some Pho bo. I also ordered a banh xeo to share and an ice Vietnamese coffee. My friends ordered bun thit nuong, salad and salt and pepper squid.
The banh xeo was huge, crispy and I can taste the slight hint of coconut milk used for the pastry. The pork meat was juicy and tender, and was overfilled with beanspouts.
The salt and pepper squid, was overly seasoned with the salt to make me pull faces, we asked the waitress if it was just our batch, but nope apparently it’s meant to be that salty. Bypassing the saltiness the batter was perfectly cooked. My ice coffee was on the bitter side, and was strong in flavour.
My pho bo, defiantly won me over, as soon as it came to me, I saw how clear the broth was and I must say that it was one of the most healthiest pho soups I have tried in London. It tasted GOOD! The amount of beef in the bowl was very generous, and was cooked just right.
Next time I must try the bun thit nuong and other stuff from the menu.
http://www.vietnamesekitchen.co.uk/caytre/
