Cay Tre
On 17 December 2007 D and I went for a dinner to a Vietnamese restaurant called Cay Tre in London. I wanted to go there since I read the review by Giles Coren in the Magazine of Saturday Times. So I caught a chance to have to go to London and booked a table.
It is within the zone 2 of London tube, and, although it is not in the touristic centre, it is within the occasional London visitors reach. It takes less than 5 min walk from the Old Street station.
When we arrived at 6:40, the ground floor was full but two two-seater tables. I noticed there was an under-ground level, but I don't know how many tables there were there. Most of the patrons were young, student looking people, but there were also some higher-aged people who looked frequent diners.
I told our waitress that we had a reservation, but she did not bother to check the book. We got, however, a slightly better table than the one indicated at the beginning on mentioning the booking.
As I had downloaded and studied the menu beforehand, I knew more or less what I wanted. Although there were an embarassement of interesting choices, I thought it is obligatory to test the fresh spring rolls, Goi Cuon (right) for £2.90. As drink, we had Jasmine tea (£1 for one person), which was served, interestingly, in coffee cups. The Vietnamese received some elements from the French occupation and it must be one of them. They are reputed to be the best French baguette makers in the East Asia.
Getting back to the Goi Cuon, they were nice and refreshing, but not the best ones I have eaten. Althought the sauce was pretty nice, the prawns did not make their presence felt.
D does not like ginger and coliander, so he asked our waitress what he could order. She suggested him to take something from the starters, as they don't contain ginger. In the starter section, there are several dishes costing as much as some main dishes, so he picked up one from them.
These are Mun Nhoi Thit, doubled as Kangaroo Squids (£6). According to the description in the menu, they are "calamari stuffed with wood ear mushrooms, pounded shrimps and minced pork". They were deep-fried and served with stir-fried onion, spring onion and red chili. Very tasty.
As D said he did not know what to order, I added one Pho as another of Vietnamese classics. We could have chosen small or big bowl (£3.50 and £5.50 respectively), with beef or chicken. This one is a small bawl with beef one. The broth was very nice, but noodles were not up to my expectation. I am used to flat and broad noodles as pho noodles, but they were thicker and thinner, and the tranche would be square. I would not order it again.
I asked the waitress to recommend some dishes from the fish section. She indicated Marinated and Oven Baked Mackerel, Monkfish (of which I don't remember the detail), or Catfish, and I went for the fish I have never tried, Catfish - Ca Kho To (£7). The menu description says "A traditional Vietnamese method of cooking offering a fresh water catfish, poached in caramerised fish sauce, stimmered in clay pot, finished with cracked black pepper and chopped fresh chili".
The clay pot was brought to us on a plate and the waitress lighted the fire on a liquid fuel on the plate. When the fire came down, she returned to open the lid.
I know this does not look great, but it was the star of the evening. The fish itself tasted like something between silver cod and carp, and very fatty. We enjoyed very much its earthy and sweet flavour and firm texture. The sauce looks like curry, but it is totally different, and it is more like a East-Asian fermented bean sauce, enhanced by slices of red chili. We devoured it with jasmine rice, which had stickier texture than Thai jasmine rice.
The service was quick, but not exactly friendly, being similar to a traditional Chinese way of serving.
We paid in total about £26 including automatic 10% service charge, which I found very good value having enjoyed so much the food. Unfortunately I cannot come to this part of London so often, but when I do, I would love to revisit.
Cay Tre the Vietnamese Kitchen
301 Old Street, London, EC1V 9LA
Tel: 020 7729 8662
Fax: 020 7739 5298
