Go Asia, Cardiff city centre, banh mi review

It's fair to say there's been a gap in the market in for a banh mi joint in Cardiff. 

This Vietnamese baguette is one of the very best sandwiches in the world and until a few weeks ago you couldn't buy one in Cardiff. 

Whilst the banh mi from Hanoi 1991, which used to be located in Cardiff's Royal Arcade, were good, I wouldn’t describe them as top tier. 

Enter Go Asia, which has opened on Barrack Lane on the former site of The Grazing Shed. 

This café, which also functions as an Asian supermarket selling a range of dumplings, sauces, drinks and instant noodles, serves both banh mi and zhushed-up Korean instant noodles.

Whilst I was very much interested in the banh mi, the instant noodles are less my bag for two reasons. Firstly, as a subpar home cook, one of the dishes I regularly make is packet ramen with toppings. Secondly, if I’m going out for noodles, I’d much rather go somewhere that makes them from scratch like Matsudai or Hatsu Udon.

Go Asia serves six different types of banh mi, including original, fish cake, grilled pork and tofu & eggplant. Each cost £8.99 and for just 50p extra there’s an option to add a soft drink into the mix.

Having placed our order with the exceptionally friendly front of house team, we pulled up a couple of chairs outside the shop and had just a short wait for our sandwiches to be prepared. 

The key thing to say about both banh mi is how impressive the baguettes were. Gorgeously crisp, airy and soft of crumb, they were a joy to eat. 

The original combined plenty of slices of workmanlike ham and pork roll, a slather of light and smooth liver pate, shreds of lightly pickled carrot and daikon, cucumber batons and fresh coriander. It was a delicious banh mi and the only thing really missing was a bit of advertised fresh chilli heat.  

The other sandwich we ordered was lemongrass beef, which was laden with thin slices of hot and tender meat that sang with citrusy herb. The other accompaniments, which were pretty much the same as the original except for the curious absence of coriander, worked very well. Mrs G thought this was the winner, but the classic just pipped it for me. 

We had delicious banh mi at Go Asia and they’re comfortably the best I’ve eaten in Cardiff. It’s a great option for a quick lunchtime pitstop and as they’re located near some of Cardiff’s biggest offices, I reckon they’re going to be on to a winner. 

The Details:

Address - Go Asia, 1 Barrack Lane, Cardiff, CF10 2FR
Web - https://www.instagram.com/goasiacardiff/
Telephone - 07593123678