Cafe East

We'd wanted to try Cafe East ever since a good review in Time Out. It's local, serves a type of food we enjoy & could have become a reasonably regular haunt.

First impressions were "OK". Decor is bland oriental canteen style - 4 long rows of tables, brightly lit - menu has reasonable range of tasty sounding dishes & staff fairly friendly.

Starters were good. The main courses less so, 1 had very fatty beef & the waiter was unsure which was the spicy version of a dish ordered by 2 of us - actually it didn't matter as I couldn't really tell even by tasting them.

Overall, the food was "OK", but not nearly as good as some Vietnamese places a couple of stops along the East London line in Dalston. Although not expensive, it's certainly not cheap for its quality.

However - the place showed its real colours when we had cause for complaint.

As our 8 year old had not liked, nor eaten, the (fatty) beef dish she’d chosen, we ordered another portion of 1 of the starters that she’d really enjoyed - Banh Cuon, steamed rice pastry pork & mushroom rolls, which come in 2 layers. We shared the top layer, it was ok but not as good as the 1st portion, there were less mushrooms. However, the 2nd layer was very greasy, covered in oil & slimy & really not pleasant. Had this been our 1st portion, we would certainly not have ordered again. We asked them to replace the remaining rolls, as they were inedible. The waiter took them away, returning a few minutes later with the same plate saying all their dishes were made with the same batch of filling & properly prepared, so there was no fault & they wouldn't replace them.

We finished our meal & asked for the bill, leaving the offending items untouched.

We asked for them to be removed from the bill - it was only £5.50, but I don't expect to pay for inedible food. After discussion with 3 or 4 members of staff we were told there was nothing wrong with them & anyway we should have complained before we'd eaten half, so we had to pay for them.

We asked to see the manager.

That didn't help. A rather aggressive man emerged from the kitchen, supported by a less aggressive, but equally immovable woman & constantly repeated the line that their staff had proffered. From several comments he made, he clearly holds a strong view that most of his customers arrive intending to rip him off. Perhaps we should have been warned by the prominent "We don't serve tap water" & "Cash Only" notices.

We paid the full bill & left - amazed that they would rather drive away future business than acknowledge that our position as a customer might deserve something other than disdain & distrust. Perhaps it’s the lack of competition in Surrey Quays that allows them to get away with it.

Sadly our message is this: if you're ever tempted to visit Cafe East – Don’t! Instead, get off the East London line near Kingsland Road & enjoy some truly excellent Vietnamese food & service. There are several very good places to choose from & cheaper too!
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DM
2 Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 4
Sunday, January 08, 2012

My favourite place for pho is still Cafe East. Whether it is a cold wintry day or just when you are craving some broth based noodles, the pho from here always hits the spot. It is still the best that I've had in London.
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Chopstix2Steaknives
8 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 9
Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Yummy, first time last week and will be going again this week.

Cheap, simple, super tasty and moreish.

Didnt even mind queuing for nearly an hour as the food was worth the wait!
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Shelly
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Best Vietnamese restaurant I've been to and I have been many. The closest taste to home.
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Judy Le - View all reviews by this user
7 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 5
Friday, September 09, 2011

My family and I have been regular customers of Café East for many years, starting from when they were a little café on the street corner. I recently made a telephone order - a noodle soup dish for my son - which I collected. On arriving home I plated it up and handed it over at which point I was informed that it was the wrong order (I’m not offey with all the dishes or I may have realized this before I plated up).

I phoned the restaurant and explained the situation. After consulting with the owner the waiter told me to return the food and they would give me the correct order. I explained I’d already mixed everything up (noodles, meat and soup base all come separate). The waiter repeated that I must return the food. Surprised at this, I hurriedly poured the bowl back into the plastic container which originally held the soup base. Of course now it was all mixed up it didn’t all fit. I wasn’t that concerned assuming the return of the food to be a token gesture (little did I know). I returned to the restaurant and handed the food over.

After quite a long wait the owner emerged and explained to me that the soup I’d returned lacked most of the noodles, meat and other ingredients it had been sent out with so he wouldn't replace it. Had I returned it all (even though it was all mixed up) he could have confirmed it hadn’t been eaten and he would have replaced it. He said he had to do this otherwise all his customers would ‘try it on’. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing! I asked him if he really thought his customers would behave in this way? He replied, “Yes!”

He said that since he knew my family and I, and we’d been coming to his restaurant for many years, he was prepared to make the soup I'd returned ‘spicy’ (add their special chili sauce?). Again, I couldn’t believe what I was hearing!

I expressed my amazement and disappointment at how I was being treated. I told him I didn’t appreciate his offer and as I had a hungry boy at home waiting to be fed before resuming GCSE revision, he should just give me a new order for which I would pay in full. Needless to say I left never to return.

A real shame, as apart from an owner who doesn’t think too highly of his customers (Oh… and the fact that they wont give you tap water), Café East has good, inexpensive food and the ground staff are pleasant and friendly.
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8 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 9
Tuesday, August 02, 2011

I had read a review about this eatery and was keen to go. I was very disappointed.

The menu is 99% meat, and as I was with a vegetarian, my friend could only have the one vegetarian meal.

The only meat I eat is chicken, and I did not fancy way the chicken dishes looked or were cooked. I plumped for fried chicken & rice, which was boring and dry.

The place was packed, and the acoustics make it very noisy.

The eatery was full of Vietnamese families, which suggests to me that that the food is good if you know and like traditional Vietnamese food.
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Rhoda
3 Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 1
Thursday, May 26, 2011

Cafe East has good food, delicious sweet drink and decent price. But it's a real shame that they don't serve tap water!! According to the waiters, 'they just don't SELL tap water'. Apparently that's just the restaurant policy -- since they don't sell alcohol, they're not legally required to sell tap water. I understand they want people to order drinks instead of having free water, but I actually think that, if a restaurant offers free tap water (a sign of putting customers' need first), I'd be much happier ordering their drinks to support a considerate restaurant.

Now I just order the food but no drink and no tip to show my disappointment and protest (although they probably don't care). It's a shame, they're just this close to be one of my favorite restaurants.
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spicyfoodie - View all reviews by this user
7 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 8
Saturday, March 05, 2011

The staff were very friendly and in a way saved my life...I've got shellfish allergies and the head chef actually came out and told me all the things I could eat.

unfortunately the dish I wanted to eat (which I couldnt stop ranting on about to my girlfriend) was cooked in a way that I couldnt eat it...

apart from that disappointment which was not the restaurants fault in any way, the food I could eat was immense!

The sweet drink thingy was also really nice..(had ice and bits of stuff in it)

would definitely come back.
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Danny Bocente
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 10
Thursday, March 03, 2011

Really great place which is always busy, you often need to wait for a table which plenty of people happily do. It is filled with oriental people dining which I take to be a good sign in this kind of restaurant.

The menu is not that extensive but the food is fresh, big portions and really tasty. This is the tastiest pho I have had in London, all other dishes I've tried are delicious.

The decor is pretty plain but the place is clean and it's a place you just come to for good food rather than setting.
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Fi - View all reviews by this user
8 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 9
Friday, February 25, 2011

The restaurant does not serve tap water!! Bottled water are not available on the menu either.

Although the food may be reasonable. If you do not want to have any of the sweet drinks on offer, you will just have to die of thirst.
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0 Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Saturday, November 27, 2010