It was a long night and I happened to attend a bloggers/press event nearby. I was hungry and my blogger friends were also the same. We decided to grab some to eat; lok yee mentioned Banh Mi Bay. It was 8-9 PM and it was difficult to think of a place that was still opened. We both had the Holborn branch in mind but with Vivian leading us with her maps we ended up at the St Pauls branch.
Banh Mi Bay currently has 2 other branches, the one in Holborn and Fitzrovia. The St. Pauls one is along the long stretch of Canon Street. It has nice homely vibes inside, wooden tables and chairs white against dark browns.
The menu is simple with the usual staples, spring rolls, Pho, vermicelli noodle salad, steam rice plates. At lunchtime you can get Banh Mi’s, which I love.
As we were all getting a main each, we decided to share some cha gio. I love these types of spring rolls over the Chinese egg ones. It’s the deep fried, golden brown extra crispy exterior with minced up shrimp, pork dipped in nuoc mam sauce that does it.
I needed something to warm me up and turned to my usual favourite rare beef noodle soup. I usually judge the stock and can tell if it’s really good. The broth was decent, nice and sweet but lack depth and bones with other spices I like from other places. The beef used seem to go to stiff in the broth; the noodles were cooked with a nice bite. Although my pho noodle soup seem to not live up to my expectations, the Bay special dishes Lok Yee had look seriously delicious.
I think Banh Mi Bay is a good place for a quick Vietnamese fixes, the Banh Mi’s are seriously good. Next time I try the rice dishes.
33 Cannon Street, London, EC4M 5SB
Tel: 020 7489 7060
http://www.banhmibay.co.uk/
{google_map}33 Cannon Street, London, EC4M 5SB{/google_map}