Vietnamese: Cay Tre

301 Old Street
EC1V 9LA
Tel: 020 7729 8662

Date of Last Visit: Wednesday December 7th

The Victims: Ben, Lee, Sarah, Keith,

The Damage: 15 quid each with drinks

Yummy, yummy yummy. I had no idea Vietnamese food was so yummy. Many years ago, I vaguely recall having Vietnamese food on Argyle in Chicago. It was okay, but nothing to write home about. Vietnamese at Cay Tre, on the other hand, was a life altering experience, akin to my first Penny’s Noodles experience (another Chicago event).

Ben had booked us in to Cay Tre because we were checking out gyms, of all places. We wisely decided against Fitness First and for Homes Place. That being settled, we sat down for some Vietnamese beer and sake (I don’t think it was Vietnamese sake, per se, but I digress)along with some delicious little beef packages, wrapped in leaves. We loved the little packages so much, we ordered a second batch. Truly, they were delicious. I would tell you what they were called, but I have no idea. Watch for the smiley face on the menu. 

We also had some beef spring rolls, wrapped in translucent shells…tasty, but unwieldy. There was a bit of an adventure with the prawn crackers–they were delivered to the neighboring table, who proceeded eating them, and then the waitstaff unceremoniously took them away and dumped them on our table. That was funny.

For my main, I went with the Saigon Pho–the traditional noodle soup, but a bit spicier. It was really, really, really good. However, I really wanted to slurp my noodles because they were so long and it was hard to get a nice big gulp of noodles and broth at the same time. So I had to be strategic about things.

I made the mistake of using the ladies, and man, they have NEVER washed that floor. Clean that up, and this place gets a big 5 Star Lovely from me!

The Verdict: Yummy, yummy, yummy I’ve got Vietnamese noodles in my tummy.