Randomness Guide to London - Differences between Version 5 and Version 4 of Banzi, SE16 2LW
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* [http://rwapplewannabe.wordpress.com/2009/06/01/banzi-vietnamese-surrey-quays-london-banh-mi/ An American In London review] |
Small Vietnamese restaurant near Surrey Quays Station, opened in March 2009.
It has seating for about 35 people inside, mostly at four-tops. The decor is clean and simple, with white walls set off by orange lampshades, dark red banquettes, and simple cafe-style tables photo.
Kake and bob visited on a Saturday afternoon in April 2009. There were a few other customers who came and went during our visit, but there was no problem finding us a table by the window. Heart radio was playing.
We started with Vietnamese spring rolls (£3.50) photo; these weren't bad at all, with plenty of vegetables inside as well as meat. They were freshly fried, too. Kake's only criticism might be that they were perhaps very slightly overcooked, with the wrappers being a little hard in places. Certainly better than the offerings at Royal Margin across the road, though.
To follow, bob had pork and pork skin rice (£6) photo. The pork was quite nice, properly chargrilled with a good barbecue flavour. The pork skin was interesting, but I don't think I'd order it again. It was chewy rather than crisp. The rice was fine.
Kake had grilled pork banh mi (£4) photo. This was my first ever banh mi, so I'm not an expert on what they should be like, but I was happy enough with it. The baguette was better-quality bread than the bog-standard fake "baguettes" you get in some places, and the crust was crackly but not too hard, which is the way I like it. The pork was moist and flavourful, the pickled vegetables were crunchy and only lightly pickled, and the pate had a decent bit of texture to it. My only regret is that there were no chillies included, as I believe there should have been.
We visited again a couple of weeks later, this time on a Tuesday evening. Again, there was no problem finding us a table. This time we started with salt & chilli squid (£4.50) photo and summer fresh rolls (£4) photo. The salt & chilli squid was fine, neither greasy nor soggy, and not overcooked. The summer fresh rolls were OK; though Kake would have liked to taste more herbs, and there was also a slightly muddy flavour to the prawns suggesting they could have been cleaned a bit more carefully. (I preferred the ones I had a couple of days later at Mama Pho down the road.)
We followed this with pho bo tai (rare beef noodle soup, £6.50) photo for bob and pork & preserved egg congee (savoury rice porridge, £6) photo for Kake. Both went down pretty well, and Kake would happily return for more of the congee, which had added textural interest from the slices of fried dough stick served on the side.
At the time of our visits, they were still getting their takeaway menu designed and printed up, but they do offer takeaway, and in the future they hope to offer delivery too.
Accessibility: Step-free access to get in, but the toilet (a single unisex cubicle) is down one step.
See also:
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