Cay Tre - good food but basic service errors

An old friend was visiting from Zurich last night, so it was a great chance to catch up with her over a meal. She suggested we meet at Cay Tre on Old Street, one of her old favorites. I'd heard lots of great things about Cay Tre (and there's been buzz around their new place in Soho) so I was more than happy to try it!

It was already pretty busy by the time we got there at 7pm, and people were queuing out the door before we even ordered! Luckily we had made a booking so had no issues. Everything on the menu looked great, so for starters we decided to share the salt and pepper tofu and the fresh summer rolls. I was so excited to see my friend and eat that I forgot to take photos! But they were both delicious.  The seasoning on the tofu was just right, crispy on the outside, smooth on the inside...perfectly accompanied by red chilies, onions and spring onions. The fresh summer rolls were pretty standard (fresh herbs, prawns) but the spicy sweet hoisin for dipping was perfect. I would be very happy with just a big plate of summer rolls!

For mains my friend ordered the crispy sea bass with mango and nuoc cham, and I opted for the bun bo hue with prawns. The fish arrived looking lovely:

It was crispy and light and went really well with the nuoc cham, although I would have preferred the nuoc cham to be a little bit stronger.

My bun never arrived....and after about 10 minutes or so I asked one of the staff about my order. I was told not once--but twice--by two different people that it would be "just a second"! After watching bowls and bowls of steaming noodles go past to the tables downstairs it was pretty clear a simple error had occurred...my noodles had gone to someone else but they didn't even realize it! Clearly they were scrambling to make my order and it finally arrived a good 20 minutes after my friend's fish. We decided not to quibble and by then I was just SO ready to eat!

The noodles came with the typical pho sides--beansprouts, chili, herbs and lemon (although I thought it was usually a lime?) but with round bun noodles rather than flat pho noodles.

The broth was flavorful with just the right balance (I hate it when it's too bland) and it had LOADS of very fresh prawns (I counted 9). BUT, I'm convinced that I was just given bun noodles with a pho broth, as it was missing the distinctive lemongrass flavor I was expecting. I was too hungry at that point to complain or have them check (given how frantic the staff were and how quickly the queue was growing) but whether I really had bun bo hue last night will be a mystery!

Despite the delay in our food (and general lack of disorganization--I don't think anyone would have realized I never got my noodles), the tastiness of the dishes and positive reviews from Vietnamese friends are enough for me to go back. Total bill was £40.50 including service which is pretty typical for a meal out in London, and we were more than stuffed by the time we finished.

I think Cay Tre will be one of my go-to restaurants since it's pretty close to where I live and I often have random noodle cravings...and I can deal with so-so service if the food is always that good. Will probably check out their Soho branch the next time I'm in the neighborhood.