We adore Vietnamese food and there never seem to be enough restaurants in this city offering this glorious cuisine; seriously, there are more Vietnamese eateries in Shoreditch than there are in the whole of Bangkok. And why don’t we have a Viet Town?
This immediately needs to be rectified, pronto.
Eastbound, a little express counter on the bottom floor of The Commons is the perfect place to get a quick bite of that Vietnamese street food we all know we’re craving. As there are only a small number of chairs available along the counter (decorated with skateboard stickers — clearly going for a Southern Californian surfers look), go during the week for lunch when The Commons is less busy.
We went for the Duck dynasty banh mi sandwich (B320), the classic artisan baguette filled with sweet and sour, almost peking-esque duck (cooked to perfection), pickled carrot and daikon, cilantro (coriander), basil, pâté and Sriracha sauce and mayo.
The sandwich couldn’t have been better but the sauce could have, if aïoli was used instead of mayo. Sure, Sriracha and mayo is fine, but why be fine when you can be the best. Aïoli and Sriracha sauce should just get married and make saucey babies for life and live at Eastbound. #saucematters.
We also went for the Summer rolls (B280), basically goi cuon. You can order it with shrimp or pork, and we went for the shrimp, obvs. The rolls were delicious, fresh and light, with the mint and lettuce sparking a feel good, “I’m so healthy” kick.
We also went for the East rolls (B200), deep fried crispy imperial rolls filled with taro, herbs and vermicelli noodles, wrapped up with an “I’m not so healthy” kick, which went down nicely all the same with the peanut sauce.
Prices are definitely not “street food prices”, but hello, it’s The Commons. Our only reservation about Eastbound is that there are not enough drinks on offer, i.e. you can only order water or soft drinks. Put some smoothies, herbal teas, sugar cane juice and fresh coconuts onto the menu, guys. g
This source first appeared on Bangkok Post Lifestyle.