Aobaba

Bubble tea pearls are moldy. I once saw a mold covered container of them in the display case but figured they hadn’t yet seen them and were going to throw them out, didn’t think too much of it. A few weeks later I got a tea and the pearls (which they got from the back, so I never saw them) were moldy and all stuck together in one big mass. I didn’t realize until I got home and Aobaba had closed, so I kept the tea and brought it back the next morning for a refund/​replacement and to let them know what happened. The woman working was quite rude and blamed it on me for keeping the tea overnight, even though I showed her a picture I had taken of the tea fifteen minutes after I bought it, at night time. She gave me a replacement but it’s pretty annoying to haggle someone over £3.50 when they served you a moldy drink to begin with. I used to go here regularly but I never went back after that, and I don’t plan to.

Cheap and good banh mis! In comparison with other places they are filled to the brim with goodness. Atmosphere a little dead though, so best to takeaway.

I picked this place in haste looking for a meet-​up spot with cheap eats near Shoreditch. It has a 4-​star rating on Unilocal and £4 bahn mi sandwiches… that’s all I needed to hear.
I’m not going to lie, being on «Viet Row» on Kingsland Road and seeing this place nearly empty had me second guessing. My friend and I approached the counter and received some pretty lousy service. It wasn’t as if the two young guys behind the counter were rude or anything, but were obviously bored and uninspired by their jobs. The main cashier could hardly speak above a whisper. That was one odd experience.
On to the food…
I had the special bahn mi (or– on their English menu, the «special baguette»). £4. Tasty and spicy with fresh ingredients. Was it the best bahn mi I’ve had? No… I found the bread a bit too thick and crunchy, occasionally overpowering the vegetable and meat fillings. For the price? Very good value.
This would be my first bahn mi in London, and this place at least motivates me to search for the best ones in the city. Aobaba was a good start, but I’m not ready to settle.

Inexpensive bahn mi (£3.40−4.00), lots of open seating, free wifi. Full of trendy ambiance? No. The best bahn mi in London? No (totally worthy for the price though!). Will I go back when I need to get some work done and feel like a Vietnamese sandwich? Yes. Their baguettes are nice and crisp and fluffy.
Didn’t like the Vietnamese coffee though. Didn’t taste ‘real’, more like just milky coffee. It is a massive space and seems to frequently be empty. We’ll see how long this lasts (though it is owned by Longdan Asian grocery store chain, so who knows). They serve bubble tea, viet coffee, a variety of bahn mi (including vegetarian ones), a few other ‘street food’ style snacks… but it certainly isn’t a full restaurant.

This seems to be a chain of Vietnamese street food.
They specialise in baguettes, bubble tea, steamed buns & a variety of Vietnamese desserts and it also has free wifi.
Food is tasty, price is ok for the area. Staff friendly and they have a projector on the wall showing episodes of Luke Nguyen’s culinary tour of Vietnam.
I’d definitely head here for a fresh healthy and really tasty bite to eat!