Kêu Vietnamese Banh Mi, Old Street: £13.50 Kêu Original

Kêu Shoreditch makes its banh mi at 332 Old Street, London EC1V 9DR, and the deli opens at 10:30 am every day of the week, closing at 9 pm Monday to Saturday and 8:30 pm on Sunday. There is no booking for a sandwich here: you walk in, order at the counter and either eat in or take it away. The house order, the Kêu Original, costs £13.50 and stacks Vietnamese mortadella, chicken liver pâté, spiced pork belly, ham and mayo inside a toasted baguette.

Kêu now runs four delis across London, in Soho, the City, Borough and here, but its own FAQ calls Shoreditch 'our original Kêu deli', serving Saigon street food seven days a week. It belongs to the same family of restaurants as Cây Tre, which has cooked Vietnamese food in London since 2003, and Viet Grill, opened in 2005 by founder Hieu Bui. Kêu is the quick, counter-service sibling of the two sit-down rooms.

The group describes Kêu as its take on the neighbourhood bánh mì stall back home, where the sandwich comes wrapped in layers of brown paper and is eaten on the move. The company says its meats come from Northern Ireland, its sauces are made in-house, and the noodles for its bowls are flown in from Saigon. That sourcing story matters less than the bread, which is where Kêu departs most clearly from a street cart in Ho Chi Minh City.

A classic Saigon bánh mì uses an airy, thin-crusted roll that shatters when you bite it. Kêu instead bakes sourdough baguettes fresh each morning, according to its FAQ, and toasts them to order. The result is chewier and sturdier, with a tangier crumb that holds wet fillings like the beef brisket without going soggy halfway through. Purists may miss the crackle, but the sturdier roll is the reason a Kêu sandwich survives a twenty-minute walk to a park bench.

Every baguette gets the same base: chilli, cucumber, spring onion, coriander and the daikon-carrot pickle. What changes is the filling, and the Shoreditch menu lists thirteen baguettes. Ask for less chilli or no coriander and the counter staff will adjust it; the FAQ says simple changes are fine if you ask when ordering. Bánh mì baguettes are not vegan, so plant-based eaters should switch to the vegan rice bowls instead.

Start with the Kêu Original at £13.50 if you want the cold-cut version that most Saigon stalls are known for. The Hội An Deluxe at £14 is the central Vietnamese variation, built around the house Hội An pâté sauce and spiced pork belly. The grilled pork at £13.25 uses chargrilled shoulder with lemongrass and five-spice, and adding homemade kimchi to it costs only 25p more at £13.50.

For something warmer, the beef brisket banh mi at £13.50 is beef slow-cooked in red wine and aromatic spices, closer to a bò kho stew in a roll. The Saigon mackerel at £13.25 is braised in a homemade tomato chilli sauce, a soft, saucy fish filling that eats nothing like the cold cuts. Vegetarians have two good options at £13.25 each: stewed aubergine with mushrooms and organic tofu, or tofu in yellow curry with coconut cream.

If bread is not the point of your visit, the rice bowls come with jasmine rice, steamed greens and hoisin gravy. The Roast Meat Trio at £18.50 brings crispy pork belly, char siu pork and roast duck together, while the Canton roast duck bowl costs £17.25. The roast mix egg noodles at £19 are the most expensive dish on the board; for a light lunch they are more food than most people need.

From the small eats, prawn summer rolls with peanut hoisin dip cost £8.50 and the wonton soup, pork and prawn dumplings in a 24-hour bone broth, is £9. The drink to pair with any sandwich is the Vietnamese iced drip coffee at £4.95, made strong and sweet with condensed milk. A homemade lemonade at £3.80 or hot or iced jasmine tea at £3 are the cheaper options if coffee after midday keeps you awake.

Kêu pitches itself as a fast lunch for busy workdays, so the counter is busiest when nearby offices break for lunch on weekdays. The quiet window is right after opening, when the sourdough is freshest, or in the late afternoon before the evening takeaway orders start. Because the deli stays open until 9 pm Monday to Saturday, an early dinner is easy, and Sunday trading runs to 8:30 pm.

Halal eaters should know the chicken is halal, according to the company, which makes the roast chicken banh mi at £13.25 and the chicken curry version at £13.50 the safe picks. If the queue snakes out the door and you cannot wait, the same menu is available for delivery through Deliveroo, so you can order from a nearby bench or office. For six people or more, Kêu also takes larger pre-orders by email at info@keudeli.co.uk.

Old Street is a working road, so carry the sandwich somewhere greener. Hoxton Square, a short walk north-west through the side streets, has lawns and benches under plane trees. The Museum of the Home on Kingsland Road, set in a row of eighteenth-century almshouses, has free admission and gardens out front, which makes it a calm place to finish a coffee.

On a Sunday, time a visit with Columbia Road Flower Market to the east, where traders sell cut flowers and plants along a Victorian street. Arrive at Kêu for a sandwich straight after it opens and you can be on Columbia Road while the stalls are still fully stocked. Brick Lane and Boxpark Shoreditch are both south of the deli if the weather turns and you want something indoors.

Address: 332 Old Street, London EC1V 9DR. Hours: Monday to Saturday 10:30 am to 9 pm, Sunday 10:30 am to 8:30 pm. Service: counter ordering, with eat-in seating and takeaway; delivery runs through Deliveroo. The nearest stations are Shoreditch High Street on the Overground to the south and Old Street on the Northern line, a longer walk west along the same road.

Allergies and dietary needs should be raised with staff at the counter, as the menu asks. Kêu sells branded tees, tote bags and gift vouchers through its online shop, and a sister deli trades near London Bridge in Borough if you are south of the river. The Soho branch on Poland Street is the alternative when you are in the West End and want the same Kêu Original.