Vietnamese Banh Mi in Leadenhall Market: Open Sunday Lunch

Banh Mi Aha! City makes its banh mi at 34 Leadenhall Market, London EC3V 1LR, and the brand's locations page lists it open Monday to Friday 11 am to 9 pm, Saturday 12 pm to 9 pm and Sunday 12 pm to 4 pm. That Sunday shift matters in the Square Mile, where most lunch counters shut for the weekend. Baguettes are made to order, and the market itself describes the unit as built for lunch on the go.

The brand opened its first shop in Holborn in 2020, with the founders writing that after years in London's food scene they missed the taste of home. Crisp bánh mì, slow-simmered phở and strong Vietnamese coffee were the opening menu, and community support carried the brand to Farringdon and then Soho. The Leadenhall Market unit is its fourth London address and the only one inside the City of London.

The company is also growing through franchising, with training provided across kitchen operations and front-of-house service. That expansion model makes the City branch part of a structured four-shop group rather than a one-off street cart, which shows in practical operational details: the City, Soho and Holborn shops all list UK bank holidays as normal trading shifts. For City workers, that means a reliable holiday Monday lunch is simple to count on, even when nearby office-district spots remain shuttered.

Leadenhall Market's own listing for the shop puts the freshly made bánh mì at the heart of the menu: crisp baguettes filled with tender meats, pickled vegetables, fresh herbs and punchy sauces, each one made to order. Expect a short wait while your sandwich is assembled rather than a pre-wrapped stack, which is the point. Bread pressed and filled in front of you keeps its crust far longer than one that has sat in a chiller cabinet.

Beyond the baguettes, the listing names two hot dishes worth knowing. Pho comes as a bowl of slow-simmered aromatic broth with silky rice noodles and fresh garnishes, and bún chả pairs smoky grilled pork with vermicelli noodles, herbs and a dipping sauce. On a cold December lunchtime, the pho is the better call. On a mild day, bún chả eats well on a market bench without a spoon.

The drink the City crowd comes back for is Vietnamese iced coffee, which the market listing describes as brewed strong and finished with condensed milk. It is sweeter and heavier than a flat white, so treat it as a dessert or a 3 pm lift rather than something to sip alongside a spicy sandwich. If you are sensitive to caffeine, order it with lunch instead of late afternoon, because the brew is properly strong.

The company talks about coffee as part of daily life in Vietnam, from morning cafés to late-night pavement conversations, and its franchise pages point to the Robusta bean and the slow drip brew as the signature. At Leadenhall, the realistic version of that ritual is a cup carried out under the glass roof and drunk standing at one of the market's stone ledges while the lunchtime crowd moves past.

Leadenhall Market sits beside Lloyd's of London and the Lime Street insurance offices, so weekday lunch between noon and 2 pm is the crowded window. Aim for 11 am opening on a weekday, or come after 2:30 pm when the queue for made-to-order sandwiches thins out. Ordering through the brand's delivery partners is another way to skip the wait if you are working nearby.

Weekends flip the pattern. With fewer offices open, Saturday and Sunday are when tourists arrive to see the Victorian market, and the counter is open from 12 pm on both days. If you arrive on Sunday after 4 pm you will find the shutter down, so plan Sunday visits as a lunch stop. For an evening sandwich, weekday trading runs to 9 pm, well after many City cafés have closed.

Leadenhall Market is one of the oldest market sites in the City, and today's covered arcade was designed by Sir Horace Jones, the architect of Tower Bridge, and completed in 1881. Its painted maroon and cream ironwork and glass roof are why film crews come here. Scenes for the first Harry Potter film were shot in and around the market. Eating a banh mi under that roof costs nothing extra.

Leave by the Lime Street side and you face the Lloyd's building, Richard Rogers' steel tower with its lifts and pipework on the outside, and the wedge-shaped Leadenhall Building, nicknamed the Cheesegrater. Walk south down Gracechurch Street and you reach the Monument to the Great Fire of London in about five minutes, with views of the river once you climb its spiral stair.

Be honest about what this unit is: a takeaway-led counter in a busy covered street, not a dining room. If you want table service and a long lunch, the Soho branch on Endell Street or the original Holborn shop on Lamb's Conduit Street suit a sit-down meal better. And if you only have ten minutes between meetings, a pre-ordered sandwich beats queuing in person at 1 pm.

Kêu, another London Vietnamese deli, runs a City branch on London Wall that focuses on weekday lunch, and it makes a sensible backup if you are nearer Moorgate. For a Sunday banh mi in the City, though, the Leadenhall unit is the more useful address, since it keeps trading after the Monday-to-Friday lunch spots have closed for the weekend.

Address: 34 Leadenhall Market, London EC3V 1LR. Email: info@banhmiaha.co.uk. Hours: Monday to Friday 11 am to 9 pm, Saturday 12 pm to 9 pm, Sunday 12 pm to 4 pm, with bank holidays open as usual. Service: counter ordering, with sandwiches made to order. Delivery runs through Deliveroo and Uber Eats.

The nearest Tube stations are Bank and Monument, both a few minutes' walk, and Liverpool Street is about ten minutes north on foot. The market's lanes are cobbled, so wheeled cases and buggies bump along the approach. The brand posts specials on Instagram at @banhmiaha.