Saturday eating: Banh Mi Bay/Prufrock/Kerbisher & Malt

With time running out rapidly before I was heading off on holliers, I headed into town again on a rain-soaked Saturday to continue my field research for my cafe article. I had been forwarded an email by my editor which said that I could meet with someone at Prufrock after 1pm on Saturday. Since it was lunchtime, JD and I headed to nearby Banh Mi Bay for some Vietnamese grub beforehand. The place was packed; personally, didn't think the food was up to much. Since it was so cold outside, I plumped for a bowl of home-made banh canh (hot noodle soup, with the noodles being made of tapioca flour). I had never had banh canh before but got the feeling that whatever had been served to me was no the real deal. Noodles should be long rather than small inch-size piece morsels?

JD's pork banh mi on "Vietnamese" bread, ie. baguette? Nothing to write home and not a patch on the ones you can find in Paris either....

Banh canh - does not not look like the dishes I found on Google images?

My day didn't exactly improve after lunch either; on arrival at Prufrock, I was told that the person I was to speak to (Jeremy) would not be free after 1pm as per my email. In fact, there had been a change of plan and he was going to be teaching after 1pm (well, gee thanks for letting me know). In the end, I ended up catching a few moments with the barista behind the bar (who I later found out was in fact Jeremy but only because I found a video of him of Youtube, rather than him introducing himself to me at the time......cos clearly that would make too much sense??!!) but it was awkward cos there was a constant stream of customers coming in for coffee and I didn't want to be a nuisance. All in all, a bit of a nightmare....

Prufrock do have good coffee but after my experience and the "too cool for school" treatment, I would be reluctant to head back. I had started off this research on such a high with Workshop Coffee and was swiftly brought back to reality again - oh wellos.....

The "controversial" (or "too cool for school") coffee menu; 4oz = cortado, 60z = flat white, 8oz = latte)

 

Prufrock's filter brew bar 

Saturday finished with a quick dinner at Kerbisher & Malt before heading to the flicks. The last time we visited this chipped in Brook Green was over a year ago and at the time, our meal was good but not fantastic. This time, all the food was much improved and I am looking forward to our next visit! :)