Hailing from Sydney I am spoilt for choice when it comes to cheap, fresh, delicious Vietnamese food. After dropping into the Thornbridge Tap Takeover at The Craft Beer Co in Clerkenwell this afternoon, I needed a nosh. My google search of what was nearby and worth it returned Banh Mi Bay – reviewers had praised their rolls. Off I trotted to get me one.
The list of meat fillings is rather exhaustive, and the pressure was on. Garlic pork… Maybe… Satay chicken… Perhaps… Lemongrass beef… Oooh…. Gah! Too hard. I asked what the most popular was, “satay chicken”. It wasn’t hard to see why.
For a fiver you get a Vietnamese style baguette (the French influence in Vietnam) packed with sweet and tangy satay chicken, buried in coriander and a heap of other salad trimmings. If cucumber isn’t the embodiment of freshness, I am at a loss. It was utterly lip-smakcing. And its they type of food you feel good eating. You don’t end up rueing your choice and wearing a film of grease around your lips for the next hour.
As I roamed the streets of Clerkenwell, I had to fight with all my power not to turn around and get another.
I will get another though. I will eventually work my way through their entire menu. Watch this space.
