Banh Mi Bay

I always go here on my lunch break. Tasty, cheap comfort food for the soul!

Opened just a few weeks ago, this little Vietnamese take-​away place enriches the Charlotte-​Street area in Fitzrovia with yet another culinary adventure. I actually discovered by accident that the «famous» Banh Mi Bay” from Holborn had set up shop in this area as well. To be more precise, I’d come to the area to try out the new Okonomyaki place just around the corner (called Yaki).
Anyway, I’d made my typical mental bookmark and I came back the following week to grab some lunch from here. I walked in and I was greeted super-​friendly by the staff behind the counter. They invited me to a small conversation about Vietnamese food and I admitted that I’d lived in San Francisco for a long time and that my expectation would be quite high ;-) Undeterred by my food-​snobbishnes, the nice guy behind the counter went ahead and recommended some special items from the menu. I ended up choosing their special Vietnames sandwich special and although I was tempted to go for the healthy option by choosing brown bread, I went for their home-​made Vietnamese baguette, which is made from rice flour.
The sandwich was good, although I would’ve personally liked to have it a little spicier. At the other Vietnamese sandwich places in the city (Cà Phê, for example), they usually ask to add extra sauce or peppers… I missed this here. (Although I assume that if I had asked for it, they would’ve been very accommodating.)
What I really liked best here was the vibe — all the staff was super-​friendly and when I asked a random question about Vietnamese cuisine, one of the cooks overheard my question and came to the front and answered it. (I wanted to know, what a typical Vietnamese breakfast consists of and he told me — to my surprise — that people would eat Phở for breakfast! Who would’ve thought…)