City Caphe & Moi An
7 Ironmonger Lane
London EC2V 8EY
Nearest Tube: Bank
3.6 Yummy stars
Price £ £4.25-£7.50 (at time of writing)
☏ No telephone
Chargrilled Pork on a bed of vermicelli salad at City Caphe
Buzz factor 4/5 stars
Food 3/5 stars
Value for money 3.9/5 stars
Eat-in or Takeaway (by ordering online)
The queue outside the little lunch place started soon after 12 pm. So, if there was a queue, it must be good. Sure as not to miss anything, I joined the queue. While queuing, I started chatting to others in the queue - all part of a loyal following of City workers in the area.
City Càphê started with a group of refugee Vietnamese who arrived in the UK in 1978. Having initially catered just for the Vietnamese community, it finally opened its first restaurant in the City in 2010 and this year, its sister branch, called Moi An was born in Fetter Lane.
Back to the queue. It began from outside the eatery and then meandered round the tight space past the few tables and plastic red chairs/stools, the fridge offering rolls (with a variety of fillings) and bottled/canned drinks, before finally reaching the order counter. You order your hot dishes (all served in a take-away box/container all ready to go into a paper bag). They can be eaten on site (if you manage to find a table/seat by the window) or taken away. The formula works beautifully, no fuss, efficient and reasonably priced.
The menu has your usual Pho (rice noodles in broth with some meat/vegetables), Banh Mi (Vietnamese baguettes) and rolls. Their spicy glass noodle soup with prawns was well worth trying (and you can ask to have it not too spicy) and so were their summer rolls (with prawn and pork). You can pick up a box of 2 (cold) summer rolls from the fridge which come with a flavourful dipping sauce. If you can’t finish everything, you can always take it away with you.
You can be in and out in 20 minutes (excluding queuing time). Ideal place for a (super) quick lunch. Go somewhere else if you want to propose.
