It was Friday night and it was my birthday, bored of the usual antics of getting drunk on my birthday. I opted for a quiet one, my sisters was out sample sale shopping and I joined them.

Coming from work and shopping in the manic sales we was hungry. Sisters wanted to go cafe east to eat, I’ve been many times before whenever I have a pho craving this place pops up in my head. Located near Surrey quays at near Hollywood bowl, the previous business was a pub where I used to get 50p shots from.

Cafe east is always busy if you go with more then 4 people in the party you need to wait at least half a hour to get seats. The interior is very modern with White Walls and beach wood furnishing the restaurant seats around 50 odd people.

The three of us wanted to order 3 mains and 1 starter and our favourite red bean jelly drink.

Banh cuon is a must for anyone starting out sampling Vietnamese food. A portion consists of 9 rolls, these are steamed rolls with mince pork, mushroom and onions. I love the super soft texture of rolls. Served with Vietnamese ham and crispy fried shallots.

The three mains we ordered was pho ga, pho bo and bun. Pho is rice stick noodles and we choose one soup base with chicken and one with beef. Bun is cold vermacli noodles with grilled pork, salad and peanuts.

Both soup bases where quite flavoured, but I felt it needed more flavouring. It really made me thirsty by the time I got home. Could it be be msg? My favourite thing about Pho bo the beef pho is the raw beef thinly sliced on top of the hot broth, I’m pretty much allergic to beef but I don’t mind suffering stomach pains for food.

The bun also came with the vietnamese spring roll and it’s one of my favourite dishes. The pork was flavoured and tender. The portion is large and was difficult to finish.

Altogether it was around £11-12 per person. I will be trying more vietnamese places in kingsland high street searching for the best vietnamese.

Cafe East

Rotherhithe 
100 Redriff Road
Rotherhithe, SE16 7