Cây Tre

Lovely Phở! Been here a number of times and it’s definitely one of the best Vietnamese restaurants in Shoreditch, in my opinion. Tends to get really busy so booking a table might be a good idea. Slightly noisy as well but okay for a quick dinner.

Amazing food and friendly staff, I would highly recommend.
Just a tip, if you can’t handle spice like myself and are feeling brave, just don’t go for the chicken curry. Amazing flavours out but my mouth was on fire!
Soft shell crab was delicious as well as the honey chicken wings

We loved this place! 1. Because we got a spot straight away on a busy Friday night. 2. Because they sold wine by the carafe. 3. Excellent service. 4. Amazing vermicelli noodles (like the best!) 5. We were even drooling over everyone else’s dishes!!! Definitely one to come back to.

Yes, my lamb shoulder curry was super tasty, but oh my did we have to wait to get to that point. I did book a table for 8 people at 8.30pm, but wasn’t sitting before 9.15pm and we had to be gone for 10pm, so yes, tasty, but I felt like a lack of organisation made us eat in a rush… and you don’t really want that on a Friday do you? Yaa, definitely potential here, but disappointed with the way they treated us.

Ordered the Garlic Hanoi phở which was sublime, great flavor and it even had whole cloves of garlic nicely seared and added in the broth! Would definitely recommend overall, if it weren’t for the absolutely atrocious service here. Waiters are rude, pushy and inattentive. Much of the flatware and glasses were not even close to clean (I had a hair on my plate to greet me as I sat down), and if they happened to be clean they were still severely chipped or scratched. Interesting… considering this restaurant is constantly packed, completely overpriced, and must be doing well! You actually cannot move or walk because it is so cramped, you may as well be sitting on your neighbor’s lap.
If you live close by, get phở to go and do not bother with the total inconvenience of the restaurant and staff.

If you like Vietnamese and you haven’t heard of Cay Tre, let me have the pleasure of introducing you. I have taken so many friends here — during the day, at night and recently I ventured to their new branch in Soho — owned by Vietnamese Kitchen they also have couple of other spots around Shoreditch.
On this occasion it was going to be the original venue. Naturally with these places with so much good food you have to order to share, but the portions are so generous it’s a good effort to get through one main, nevermind sharing two!
We went for the Butter Fish Curry with jasmine rice and the Bun Sa noodle bowl.
The Butter Fish Curry is made with dried tamarind, coconut milk & red curry and is so intensely comforting and the spices are so harmonious you just feel like a better, happier person for eating it — dramatic but true.
In contrast, the Bun Sa is a refreshing zingy and clean, noodly mouthful! A huge bowl of vermicelli rice noodles, cucumber, bean sprouts, mixed Vietnamese herbs, crispy shallots, peanuts, nuoc cham with sautéed lemongrass and rather meaty red sea prawns.
A seriously authentic place for some fresh and mouthwatering Vietnamese that’s well within budget.
C.x

Delicious BBQ bowl for lunch — good amount of meat and good amount of vermicelli noodles. Would definitely recommend for a fast and tasty lunch. Would love to try the rest of their menu, stuff on neighbouring tables looked delicious!

My review is only of the phở, since this is the only dish that we tried on the menu. The service was very quick and the phở was delicious (especially on a cold evening). If you like spicy phở, I definitely recommend adding the peppers at the table into the phở. They are very good and very spicy! As for the seating, they have a few tables upstairs and downstairs (basement). We were seated much sooner, because we were okay with sitting downstairs. The ambiance is much better upstairs, because it is brighter and much more lively. Nonetheless, there is nothing wrong with sitting downstairs, if you are just looking for good phở.

To me I have always heard about the place through the buzz on blogs online and through word of mouth. A Vietnamese place that does it properly. A Vietnamese place that is authentic. A Vietnamese place that is unique it doesn’t need to be on Kingsland Road amongst all the others fighting for your attention.
When you enter you realise it’s much smaller than you anticipate. The outer signage seems very, well, tacky in truth. But no matter we’re here for more than just that.
In terms of space inside it’s quite crowded and close knit. You’d often find yourself squeezing in next to other diners.
Food was good. Very good if washed down with some proper Saigon beer. I think the quality may have dropped a tad from when I first ever went as well as rising prices due to popularity. However the food was indeed good.
Spring rolls, mango salad, chilli salt pepper squid, even had a table griddle beef (tho this was very tricky as table we had was tiny! — prob wouldn’t try that again), as well as a Vietnamese red duck curry. All personal favs.
All in all. Very good. I’m always a bit disappointed with the phở in London so haven’t ventured back to any restaurant to try again, including here but maybe next time I will be adventurous.

Vietnamese classics plus all sorts more.
They do phở and they do it pretty well. All they need is some extra flavourings on the table as they can be a touch bland. There is no lack of additional chilli options. There are the standard phở like beef and chicken (including the ultra safe pulled chicken breast) and then all sorts of variations. The beef in the traditional phở is fall apart and really perfectly cooked. But they all need a touch more soy/​oyster/​vinegar? fir some extra flavour.
The menu is huge and there is lots of well gentrified Vietnamese items to share and snack on. I love love love the crab rolls and the tofu aubergine is delicious. There is a single scallop which is unsharable (it’s big but I don’t believe in sharing scallops) as one bite wouldn’t be enough.
There is definitely a ‘proximity to old street’ tax on the food so if you want something a bit cheaper go around the corner.
But it’s pretty alright with a good vibe! Do the big menu sharing! It’s probably the best way

Who’d think I’d come to London after living in Asia and the US all my life and discovered the best Saigon Phở I’ve ever had? A total gem.

I think I used to like Cay Tre more. Well, I’ve always liked it less than Qui Viet, but it was OK… Then I discovered Coba. So, I got really drunk on their awesome party punch, but didn’t think very much of their food.
There is nothing wrong with the food at Cay Tre per say, and as others say, it is the perfect place to fill a hole when out around old street. However, with so many around this area, Cay Tre was never my first port of call (see Qui Viet point). It’s fine. It’s kinda tasty but very rough around the edges, and the menu never really appealed– it sits in this weird area between really cheapass vietnamese food and slightly more «refined» vietnamese food…
We shared a wrap & roll platter, some soft shell crab and the piggie aubergine. It was all fine, but nothing to write home about. Basically if I never came back, I would never miss it. It’s not so bad I have an opinion about it, but it’s not so good I would choose to come back either.
Service was quite dicey but expected the week before christmas and also we were a party of 16.
P. S. I know a lot of people hated House of Ho, but I also prefer it to this.

We had pre booked as it was early evening. We were escorted downstairs and were the first to be seated down there. It soon filled up, but the tables are insanely close to one and you can’t move anywhere. When you go to the toilet or leave one whole table had to get up to move out of the way.
We ordered several dishes to share and they came back saying it had sold out, strange as it was the beginning of the night. We then ordered some replacements and the same thing happened with that. I then asked them what they had on the menu so it didn’t happen again and the waitress was slightly rude back, walked off then came back and we finally finished our order.
Food came, it was good but not the best I’ve had. They threw the dishes down in front of you and ran off.
Overall service needs improvement and the general layout needs updating so you don’t feel like sardines. Food is good, but maybe avoid peak times when it is less busy. (Visit — 17/​08/​2015 Dinner)

Our group left here with mix feeling but full stomachs. We enjoyed some of the dishes, including the vermecilli and beef, and the prawn and chicken pancake. However the friend prawn thing (it was just globs of fried was with shell on shrimp inside) wasn’t very good at all– biting through shell is not fun. The chicken was standard– juicy but small. Nothing go back for.
We sat in the basement which was loud at times and service was a little slow. However the wine and beers were nice and complimented the food well. This place has potential but the food wasn’t good enough to make a lasting impression or entice me to ever come back. Portions were larger than expected.
While I did not find this, the wide thought the noodles tasted like cleaning detergent. Maybe three stars is too generous? But it’s certainty not two so I will round up.

This place serves really good vietnamese food. I must admit I was not expecting those flavours. I thought only Indian food had flavours. But this one was a sure surprise. I’ve gone here twice with my colleagues and you get really large tables to dine with a big team if you want.
The staff is friendly too and items on the menu are pretty decently priced. Some funky cocktails too.
I remember having the wok roasted beef with rice and vegetables. I also had some spring rolls and a cocktail that I don’t remember the name of, which contained a mix of some champagne, aloe, mint, lime etc.
But I did have an unforgettable experience here as I almost passed out after my lunch. It certainly wasn’t the food. And it was probably an allergic reaction to one of the ingredients that I had which I’m still not aware of. But this was the day I got into an ambulance. Thanks to my colleagues for quickly getting me an ambulance. I could barely breathe and I struggled to stay awake.
But I was back to normal in about 20 minutes. Thanks to the medics and my friends. I think I caused the restaurant some bad business that day, as this happened soon after I had my lunch and bill was cleared. So they helped with dealing with the emergency and despite this incident I did drop by to apologize for the loss of any customers.
They were very kind and asked me to take care and consult a doctor when I can. But you know London, it is hard to get a GP appointment.
But I can say for sure, literally, that was a lunch to DIE for. At least that’s how my colleagues describe it now.

Lundi matin, Londres. En quête du meilleur phở de la ville, après un weekend de «trop mangé» et «trop bu». Une demi-​heure après avoir lu quasi tous les commentaires de tous les restaurants vietnamiens à Londres, je me décide enfin: ce sera Cay Tre même s’il faut prendre le Tube, changer de ligne et puis encore prendre un bus.
Née d’une maman ayant vécu au Vietnam, je suis sans pitié. Et bien, j’ai été déçue, je n’ai pas trouvé le phở meilleur qu’à Bruxelles, chez Gourmet d’Asie.
Mention spéciale quand même pour les nems au porc, la pâte est bien croustillante et la farce bien juteuse.

Excellent Vietnamese on Old Street.
The décor is pretty drab and it’s always a bit bustly and cramped with people BUT that’s because it’s so GOOD!!!
The Phở’s are great — I can recommend the chicken thigh & drum phở with no noodles if you’re an aspiring paleo like minded person. They do great summer rolls and lamb neck curry too.
All round to nosh!

Whenever you want to grab some fast good vietnamese food, this is always a solid option.
Nothing fancy about this place: tables are small and packed, a little bit of dirt in the angles of the room, you don’t really want to see the kitchen where your food is coming from. But it’s very good food! It’s like getting on a flight to Hanoi, everything is real! And more over, it’s damn fast, you receive the menu, 5 minutes you order it, 10 minutes max you get your food, out in half hour. That’s great on a lunch break.
In the end, whenever I want to get back to Vietnam with my mind, its flavors and tastes, I now Cay Tre and her shy waitress, his sweaty cook and his delicious and genuine food are there!
Yai!

A group of us popped into here for a quick bite after checking out a few bars nearby! There are a few Vietnamese restaurants on the same road but this one attracted us as there was no queue to get in, there was extra seating areas downstairs, and the food look great through the window!
So we walked in and was greeted by a member of staff who asked if we were eating in or takeaway and as we had se time on our hands we ate inside. Probably not the best place to go after having a heavy drinking session as all we could drink was water, but I gotta admit the little jug of water with ice and a slice of lemon looked pretty!
So to start off with we shared a Crispy Vietnamese vegetable Spring Rolls which came with some sauces, which was yummy and we could have ordered another but then came our second part of the meal which was a a plate of Wok-​fried Ramen Noodle, which had oyster mushrooms, beansprouts, green onions, followed with Campfire Hanger Steak which is cooked with oyster sauce, onions and the steak was very soft.
Once we finished eating it did take the waitress a long time to realise we had finished and wanted to pay our bill as she had disappear for some time but we have been here again since the service was a lot better! Also loved the menu choices as there wasn’t too many items to over complicate what to select!

Easy, fast, delicious, there isn’t a lot to say about Cây Tre that isn’t good.
It’s never going to be gourmet, but if you’re looking for tasty Vietnamese food in the area, sit down. The staff is attentive, if not a little weird (the girl who served us didn’t say more than five words all night and the little old man walking around seating people was wearing a sweater with embroidered images from the kama sutra. I kid you not, I cannot make this up.) However, both check on us often and we were never lacking for drinks or more food if we wanted.
The food was tasty and rich and not that expensive. I got the beef and spring rolls with vermicelli and it was nice. Heavy on the noodles, could have used a little more beef, but overall well seasoned, well temperatued, the perfect food on a cold night.
We needed to be in and out in an hour to make out next thing and we easily were. Solid all around.

J’ai été amené dans cette cantine new age par une amie qui voulait absolument manger des Banh Cuon (spécialités viet qu’on né trouve pas couramment et dont moi je n’ai pas raffolé mais qui sont souvent très appréciées). Nous avons pris pas mal de plats différents. Tous très bons et servis dans de généreuses proportions.

This is our local «go-​to» for Vietnamese «to go» near Old Street.
It certainly isn’t the greatest in the area (obviously Vietnamese delicacies abound down Kingsland Road), but it is fine. We’ve eaten in a few times and don’t really like the atmosphere (a bit cramped, pretty loud, usually a que) but we’ve hit the sweet spot with a pick-​up routine. The service is always good, either way though!
*call 10 – 15 minutes before you’ll be hungry. Order.
*Pick up 10 – 15 minutes later.
*Voila!
I’ve had lots of things here, the phở is AOK but I typically do not get that dish as takeaway for the obvious reason that it rarely stands up to being transported. But we often get spring rolls, summer rolls, hot dishes like chicken skewers, fried rice, etc. It’s all tasty and I’ve never had a complaint. Our order is always ready when they say it will be and we are in and out in a flash with our food!
*They don’t deliver, but they do accommodate takeaway orders swiftly and accurately, which is more than I can say for many area restaurants! They have the correct containers as well, so your food won’t be a literal «hot mess» when you get it home.
Bonus: the Vietnamese coffee is always a treat!

Entre kebabs y pollo frito decidimos entrar a comer en este restaurante, era tarde pero aquí aún nos recibían con los brazos abiertos, es más, estaba lleno y tuvimos que esperar (sólo un par de minutos) hasta que nos hicimos con una mesa.
Me gusta la comida vietnamita pero por mala suerte muchos de sus platos no son muy compatibles con mi estómago extremadamente sensible al picante… Es por eso que me decanté por elegir un plato que ni requería el uso de los palillos y que más bien parecía cocinado en mi tierra, pollo asado. Este pollo no era un simple pollo señores, ¡un pollo capón suuuuuuuuper tierno y suuuuuuuuper crujiente! (Roast Whole Baby Chicken Royale, según la carta) hacía mucho que no comía algo tan bien cocinado (lo siento mamá).
Evidentemente y con miedo a tener que lamentar luego cualquier dolor de estómago no me atreví a probar la comida de mis compañeros, pero todos parecíamos muy satisfechos con nuestra decisión culinaria ;)

Ce vietnamien est sublime.
J’y ai pris du Bò quanh la hng: bavette d’aloyau sautée avec de la sauce aux huîtres, mon dieu c’était magnifique, on aurait cru sentir du vin blanc, un peu commme du baeckoff alsacien à la version vetnamienne!
Et, quand un plat est délicieux, on a envie de tester un peu plus loin, par exemple le dessert (négligé dans la plupart des restaurant). J’ai eu un peu peur en voyant qu’ils n’en proposaient que trois. Hé ben, ce fut délicieux.
En plus la déco est bien, le service agréable, la carte des vins intéressante, et les plats du midi de type Bo Bun et Phở sont autour de 7 pounds! J’y retourne forcément pour mon prochain passage à Londre, oui oui oui.