Against All Odds
Banhmi11 is moving to our own stall at Broadway Market
Goodbye to all that...
We are so excited to be telling you that we are moving into our own stall at Broadway Market! We are currently sharing a stall with Ca Phe VN but starting Saturday we will have our very own place! It may seem strange to you if you haven’t visited us, but this weekend is going to be a really meaningful day for us as we start on our own. The scary part is still ahead of us but so are the possibilities! At least we are so glad we survived. That we still can exist at Broadway, and we’ll tell you why.
Now since we returned from Vietnam in January a lot of things have happened, but one of the things that became definite this week was that Ca Phe VN decided to end our partnership starting this weekend. Rob and Tuyen will start making banh mi of their own and no longer wish to have us operate in the same stall. As you know, Ca Phe VN makes excellent coffee that goes down very well with banh mi. We always thought that banh mi and coffee goes hand in hand, just like toast and tea, so it was at this very stall, on the tiny stainless steel mini-stools in the middle of Benjamin Close that we proposed to do banh mi.
For the past eight months, the stall has been our home on Saturdays and we really treasure the moments when we get to sit down and relax as a customer. This little alley is like a corner of Saigon in the middle of East London, with a similar energy, creativity and sense of constant change. It was here that we first learned the ropes of running a stall, waiting for time to pass on a rainy afternoon when the market is empty or coping with the panic of piling orders during the lunch rush.
It was here that we did the small things we consider so extraordinary in our very ordinary lives. When Rob and Tuyen’s baby was born in the summer last year, he came to the market from the hospital having stayed up all night. So we stood behind the till and made coffee and felt a strange sense of serenity that the staff and we were running the stall, while the proud father was napping on a chair. Then there was the weekend when my parents were visiting, he was ill and could not bring the van with all our equipments. So my parents got to see three girls trying to set up a gazebo, put up signs by climbing on a bike, beg for electricity from the Laundromat next door and carry water from the cellar of the Broadway grocer to make coffee. No matter what, it was always our intention to keep the stall open in rain or shine, to not have a customer show up and be disappointed at the empty space where the stall usually occupies, to seamlessly serve really good food and drinks without thinking about who really owns what.
Perhaps that’s because we are stubborn, or we are workaholic, or we are beginners and amateurs with too much energy and too little sense. Perhaps that’s because we have been fools to go into such a partnership, not foreseeing that either way we would have been prey of our own success or our own failure.
Yesterday we were in almost despair; it’s almost impossible you see to get into a real food market in London. But the stars aligned in a way that Broadway Market management were so helpful to us – we have incredible respect for the community here. We are so happy that we are just nervous and almost cannot believe it until we really set our stall up on Saturday. Things will be a bit shabby to start with, so bear with us until we can decorate the stall. But the food will be the same, and hopefully better than the last time you tasted it.
There is no excuse but you must know that even though we have been away from the blog, we have been at the market, cooking up new varieties of banh mi. Imperial BBQ, thin slices of sirloin pork soaked overnight in a special marinade inspired by Hue-the old imperial city, is quickly becoming a heavy-weight contestant to the perennial favorite Quad Meat. It hits the spot every time and even though we love the traditional mixed meat variety, we confess that we must refrain ourselves all the time from picking at the yummy fragrant pork, hot off the grill, so that we actually have some left for customers.
So if you can make time for us on Saturday, we will be at Broadway in our brand-new pitch. This is a new beginning, a marvelous thing for all of us. Against all odds, this is the chance we have got to take. And you, will you travel with us on this new road?
Posted on: 04.03.2010
User Comments
March 4th, 2010 at 6:41 pm
We will see you on Saturday for sure! All the best of luck to you – Uyen xxx
March 5th, 2010 at 2:18 am
I’ve still haven’t made it down to see you guys, no excuse really when I’m in Dalston. Guess I’ll just have to see you on your own stall now rather than a shared.
March 5th, 2010 at 2:20 am
We will follow you guys wherever you are
. We LOVE your food! Good luck Banhmi11!
March 5th, 2010 at 8:40 am
Cuoi tuan nay lai qua an ba’nh my`, TA chuan bi cho to may cai nhieu rau nhieu thit nha’
. Tks for your excellent banh my. I admire your passion and energy, you guys should be very proud of yourself
March 7th, 2010 at 1:51 pm
it is strange that you do not mention the help you received from Caphevn who gave you the chance to start your business, in an informal way, from their well established market stall at Broadway Market. Without their generosity you would not have been able to start trading. At this point it would be gracious to acknowledge their help and support.
March 9th, 2010 at 3:22 am
@ Fernandez & Leluu:Thanks for coming over, Uyen, with your puppies too. We will try to swing by Columbia Road soon…
March 9th, 2010 at 3:40 am
@ Joshua: Yes we loved our shared space but we are really enjoying putting up our own stall as well. Dalston is so close you should really stop by. If not for us but Broadway Market is really a little gem. Keep cooking and posting!
March 9th, 2010 at 3:59 am
@ Judy: Hi Judy, thanks for stopping by. I think everyone who follows us and visits us at the stall knows that we are equally passionate about promoting Vietnamese coffee as we have been about banh mi. On our website we have always mentioned that the idea was conceived at Ca Phe VN. We have huge respects for what they have done for Vietnamese culture and drinks and not sure if you still sense a bit of nostalgia in this post about how much we enjoy the little corner of Broadway that they occupy. I think we have always paid due respects to Ca Phe VN and tried to work so that customers may receive a seamless experience. I am also proud so say that we have not been a latch-on, a free-rider, or an ingrate. We put hard work, sweat and love into what we do, week after week. Although we may be in a shared space, we have stood on our own feet and I truly believe that our followers understand this. I hope you will enjoy Banhmi11 in our new stall as much as you would have in our old place. Either way, Ca Phe VN and Banhmi11 are only a minute’s walk from each other so you can still get that perfect combination of banh mi and ca phe sua da!
March 13th, 2010 at 5:19 pm
Can you girls start selling coffee too please. Now that you’ve moved I can’t get Vietnamese coffee anymore cos I don’t want to wait twice and want my food and drink in one place. If you do sell coffee can you use a decent coffee brand like Trung Nguyen or Phuong Vy or even any other proper Vietnam brand. Please don’t use Zgoz, it’s not strong enough. Now I have to let all my friends know that you’ve moved to make sure they get the right banh mi for me when they go. I read the comments above and would like to say that as a customer, I don’t think your followers care if you got alot of help and support or not, so don’t feel like you have to defend yourself. We just care about getting decent Banh Mi (and hopefully together with Ca phe sua da????) ha ha ha
March 20th, 2010 at 1:56 pm
The end of something is actually the fresh start of something else. I still love your products and keep being addicted to it
no matter where you are. Keep improving, especially your quad mead banhmi 
and introducing new things e.g.oppla . have you known people love your banhmi once they taste it ?
March 20th, 2010 at 1:58 pm
By the way, I am waiting for your entry telling about your first days at new position. How’s everything going ?
March 28th, 2010 at 2:34 pm
Hey Olivia, thanks for stopping by and commenting. Your words really made my day! We will keep trying new things and also do specials each week. It has been really good for us at the new stall. Just really so busy and barely sleeping to have time to write a blog entry. But we will update you soon…promise! Say hi next time you come by the market!
March 28th, 2010 at 2:53 pm
Hey Nguyet, thanks for your comment! It really matters to us what you guys think so it’s good to know that you care more about our products than anything else. We are trying to keep things small and focus on the food before we get into the drinks. We have soft drinks/juices for 1pound now just to keep people from getting thirsty while eating banh mi. We have a few drinks planned for the summer actually but still working on the recipes. So stay posted! It will be very new and different than anything else in London.
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