Cây Tre

I'm a huge fan of the Old Street branch and have been since its appearance. Will wait for a table, and have done so many times. Not here. Pho has just opened on Wardour St, and knowing their Brighton branch, Cay Tre Soho needs to seriously up its game. It's not their fault that I had some braying trustafarians modelling rugby shirts next to me and discussing spring chicken as though it was their girlfriend, but on a simply ambient note, they could easily have been drowned out by quieter music. It was like going to an Asian rave at Henley. Food wise, I think in the same way that you can judge a good Thai by its Tom Yum, you can judge a Vietnamese by its pho. If you're going to make a big play of the Rib-Eye steak on the menu, it's best not to serve it with what can only be described as gristly shavings. I like my pho quite hot - so I usually add some chopped chilli and then remove it as I'm eating. Pernickety and slighltly OCD I realise, but when you're presented with one unchopped chilli to add, and a slice of lemon (shouldn't it be lime?) it's very hard to cut it up with chopsticks. I asked for some chopped chilli, which never arrived. As a bit of a pho snob (add your own -ing) the broth was watery rather than the comfortingly aromatic variety you find on Old Street. Not much marrowbone here. Maybe the stock needs longer, or they could borrow a meatier one from round the corner. It is Soho after all and...too...many...jokes. I quite liked the Kimchi, my girlfriend didn't, but that's a matter of taste, and at least it wasn't ludicrously overpriced like much else on the menu - eight quid for beans? Really? My girlfriend is, however, very wise (except in her choice of partner) and when I mentioned I was writing this, did ask me to add the words 'shit', 'overpriced', and 'cold' to my review, and she's head of department for an English faculty so I felt I had to. Her Dong Du curry was admittedly quite tasty, but the chop bit was sadly lacking. I think she counted two mouthfuls of actual lamb, which, for a tenner, seems a little steep. I even mentioned it when the bill arrived, and normally I'm like both of the old ladies in Fawlty Towers, so it must have been a bit shit, overpriced and cold. I've got a meeting in Soho tomorrow, and I've already arranged to meet at Cay Tre. I would say I've booked a table, but no one was answering the phone this afternoon. I'll be trying other things, but they're going to have to be really good or next time I'm eating out in Dean St, I'll be trying other things.

More on the overpriced menu theme: - £3 for a steamed rice...

Err the strip of places on Kingsland Rd is not in Dalston..

Terrible experience. Overpriced menu - eg £5 for two small spring rolls - overdeepfried and burnt on one side. £9 for beef pho when you can get the same down the road for £4.90. When I sat down, the waiter was enthusiastically asking me to order water. I ordered Coke instead and the waiter literally wouldn't go away and was still overzealous (by order of the boss?) to sell me water. Pity on him so I ordered a bottle of water for which I later discovered to cost £4.25 and which I did not drink at all. One then has to pay 12.5% service charge for all that! Good luck to them - and they'll need it.