Last Saturday I was totally craving a Banh Mi, after unsuccessfully trying to contact the owners of Banhmi113 Anh and Van was on holiday in Vietnam to return my tweets and text messages. I suddenly remembered Keu, having visited their sister branch from across the road Cay Tre. I had Keu on my hit list of eateries to try. Just my luck my friend wanted to join me too, I haven’t a clue why, but the address on Keu twitter page directed us to another part of old street and I had to revert to using Cay Tre address to locate the place.
The cafe was empty late in the evening when I visited, but the pork and meat hanging near the window was enough for me to salivate. A quick glance on the menu board, I knew exactly what I wanted the “classic banh mi” consisting of Spiced belly of Pork, Ham Terrine and Chicken Liver pate. I also ordered a pot of green tea by tea pigs, it tasted very similar to senhcha which I love when I have sushi but the leafs are mao feng from china.
As i waited for the sandwich master watching him carefully crafting my sandwich I saw a customer with char siu pork, pak choi and rice, it was so appealing the glossiness of the succulent meat and vegetables I wanted to drool it looked so good. The sandwich finally arrived cut in half, as you can see from my photo the baguette was filled with all the ingredients to the max. The bread was absolutely delicious, crusty and crunchy I made a total mess of the table with crumbs all over the place. The meat was juicy, tender and flavoursome, the garnishing of the pickled vegetables went down well although I think it wasn’t pickled enough. I loved the extra touch of using Japanese kewpie mayonnaise, the mayonnaise itself has a distinguish taste and works very well with Banh mi. I was pretty stuffed after this banh mi, but later went to Chinatown for desserts and another meal at koya. LOL
This place is my second favourite banh mi joint in London, if you’re after a place to eat in for Banh mi go to Keu.
