Bang Bang Canteen

Service was quick — not super friendly but I’m not too bothered because it’s a place you’d go for the food. This is the 3^rd best phở I’ve had (and I’ve had a lot) — great winter warmer, fragrant and full not oily like a lot of the chains (ie: ‘phở to go’ for example). This is proper authentic stuff. The bus are delicious too.

Bright, fresh, quick, and exactly what you need to cheer you up on a cold winters day.
It’s days like this I that I need the spice, and the fresh herbs. These married with thinly sliced fresh vegetables, beef, rice noodles, and brought together in a delicious broth, made a filling and warm meal.
It’s also a super quick option, simple throw these constitutes together and bring to table — great if you need to be somewhere or for a lunchtime meet — almost instant satisfaction!
I’m not a great connoisseur of Phở or Vietnamese food, but I really enjoyed the freshness of the Beef ‘Phở Bo Thai’ and I left full and happy. I’ve also tried the Phở Chay on a previous visit and enjoyed this vegetarian option.
Bang Bang have tried to go for a film noir, Mob, almost Sin City, cartoon, feel with the menu and company graphics. The sign illuminates, shooting the name into the evening. However the restaurant has a more canteen style feel, with a selection of heavy wooden raised tables, booths and lower tables at the front to choose from which have more of a school feel, some with Mexican style tiles embedded in them.
However I find the odd mixture of styles colourful and cheery. The vibe is quite warm and inviting.
The prices are £8.50+, for a Phở which I feel is on the upper side of most restaurants like this and canteen style food. However you don’t need to order anything other than the one plate, so it’s not unreasonable.
Definitely a great option for a simple and fresh, no fuss approach to lunch!

This place was our saviour after a long night at Frieze. Admittedly not our first choice — that honour was forfeited by the Queen’s Head and Artichoke who failed to cope with the crowds …
One friend in our group had spotted the neon lid canteen from across the road on his way. We actually expected an American diner style restaurant and were pleasantly surprised to be invited into a Vietnamese kitchen — even more so as the sign on the door had been switched to «closed». We were told that we were welcome to stay as long as we ordered almost immediately.
I don’t think you can go wrong with Vietnamese food, and we all ended up with delicious options, in our case salads and soups, but everything on the menu sounded delicious.
Once we had ordered, the food arrived swiftly but we weren’t rushed to leave again, making this a throroughly enjoyable end to an exhausting day.
I’ve every intention of returning and am sure to remember this gem the next time I am in the area (it’s located half way between Great Portland Street and Warren Street stations); I probably wouldn’t make a special trip though as this just isn’t my favourite part of town — overlooking the busiest road (the main entrance on Warren Street is more friendly) which somehow acts as an enforced border between the fringes of Fitzrovia and Camden.
PS: the bang bang revolvers on the wall would actually not look out of place in an American diner either

Quite frankly I was not amazed by the food I ordered.
The meal arrived so quickly meaning everything was ready to go with little processing if not getting everything into a bowl. Very few meat in proportion of there price.
The décor was just OK, but eating on a school table is something i was not doing since 25 years!

LADS WHATS GOING ON, GET YOUR BAO BUNS SHIT TOGETHER. It has been ages now, I’ve just stopped asking when they are going to be back (despite them being left on the menu this whole time, and you only find out when you order). If they are back fine, but I gave up asking after 2 months solid.
Besides that, its a fairly average Vietnamese spot, if admittedly one of the only in the Fitzrovia area.
You’ll get more stars when you are more consistent with the food, and the quality! Average sums it all up.

Solid Vietnamese food — a bit non-​authentic at times in a ‘fusiony’ sense so its hard to get too upset.
The spring rolls were excellent which is what I was looking for and the other food was also good. Definitely worth checking out but if you want true Vietnamese food served by the locals for the locals, you may have to check out something else. Then again, would you go to a place called ‘bang bang canteen’ if you thought it was going to be that?
They are good for what they are — especially if you are in the neighbourhood for lunch.

Good balance of ingredients. Phở is all about the soup base — I have had better for the beef stock. The chicken and crab soup bases were outstanding.

I took a phở and I have to say that it was excellent with a really nice crew and service!

Nothing to complain about really, just average.
Ill note that the Summer Rolls were tiny and didn’t come with peanut sauce, only hoisin… The Phở Tai didn’t taste bad but was lacking in flavor and the meat is usually sliced much thinner.
I’ve been to over 50 Vietnamese restaurants around the world and this one doesn’t really stand out in a positive or negative way. If I’m in the area again, I’ll be going back to Sen Viet on Kings Cross. Much better.

Bang Bang Canteen is great value for money.
We ordered a bunch of appetizers and shared them without ordering a main or phở, as it seems like their phở is probably not that great.
we ordered
Salt & pepper ribs — these were awesome. we ate them and had to order more. I would return just to eat these ribs.
Green mango salad — tasty but nothing special
summer rolls with crispy duck — average
duck with pineapple — tasty
quail — seasoning was good but the meat was a little dry
grilled mackerel — very flavorful and well seasoned.
The servers seemed discombobulated. We made a reservation through opentable that had a 30% off offer, but only one server seemed to know what was going on and everyone else seemed pretty confused.
All in all, tasty affordable food.

Lemongrass chicken and lemongrass pork buns are delicious. Quick service, no nonsense décor, and a menu full of delightful sounding little things sized between tapas and full dishes.

Bang Bang may not come in with a bang, but it will leave you satisfied none the less.
This is a wonderful small Vietnamese café on Warren Street. It’s pretty much what you might expect — a few tables inside and out, a nice menu with your classics: Baos, Buns, soups, noodle salads. I got the Bun Cha Gio or the Imperial Spring Rolls with Vermicilli Salad and it was tasty and filling. We also got the summer rolls, which were small but nicely lightly fried.
The staff here is really excellent, friendly, fast, they deal with a lunch rush well, it was impressive to see them in action.
I had a really nice lunch meeting here. It’s a comfortable spot to eat and talk and I will be back no question.

I’ve tried this place twice now. The first time I’m gonna write up to being newly opened, and therefore an absolute clusterfuck between service (bad), food (came out at all different times) and drinks (we were told to get our own out of their fridge, free beers anyone?).
The second time was better. But how much cred should food coming out together get? The Vermicelli Beef Noodles is what I got, it was so spicy my nose was running into my soup (and I like spicy, folks). Also, the noodles, not vermicelli! Spaghetti! And absolutely impossible to eat. Thank god I was with mates and not a business meet, bc trying to get these noodles in my mouth with chopsticks and spoon was… less than graceful.
Urgh, wanted to like this place, think I’m done though :/

I am not even kidding you when I saw I have been to Bang Bang Canteen three days in a row now. It’s that good.
I have arranged meetings here and meet-​ups with friends. Anything to give me an opportunity to try something new on the menu.
The ingredients are all fresh, the flavours perfectly balanced, the staff smiling, and the delivery of your order is incredibly fast. Even when it’s full.
This is quite a popular lunch spot for locals, so I recommend arriving ten minutes early as you will have to wait for a table.

Matcha green tea latte. It was so good that for this alone I would be back. Of course I tried the food and so I wouldn’t have it alone, don’t be silly. Although we went for a ridiculously early dinner (pre theatre) and so were the only customers for most of the time I am sure that the staff are as attentive and helpful at other times as they are just lovely. The food was amazing, I am sad that they had run out of bao buns that evening, as I really wanted to try them but the food I did have made sure that I will be back to try them. For starters we shared chim cut nuong (chargrilled quail) and some delicious shrimp which I have forgotten the name of, both really tasty and good sized portions. I had the com bo kho (beef stew with jasmine rice) for my main and it was very good, the beef was full of flavour and very tender. Again a great portion size and really great value. It was also really quick, I imagine that it may be a little slower if we had arrived later, and there were people coming in as we were there (including someone ordering lunch for the next day!) so although they have not been there long obviously word is getting around, so if eating at a more regular time perhaps worth booking. I’m told that they used to have a pay at front system but they seem to have gotten rid of that, which works for me. Now if only I could get the song out of my head…

I noticed signs for Bang Bang Canteen a few months ago when wandering through the area, but I hadn’t had the chance to give them a try. So when a colleague suggested we go out to lunch on a Friday, I suggested Bang Bang Canteen. And I managed to get a couple of people to agree.
It’s a fairly simple design. After you get a seat (and weirdly there were a lot of tables reserved, so I should keep that in mind for future reference), you look at the menu and then you go up to one of the registers and order there. So that’s a bit strange for a restaurant, but hey I’m fairly easy going.
I ordered the Vietnamese spicy wings and pork belly bahn bao (because I could eat those steamed bun/​tacos all the time). We opted to pay separately, and that kind of caused us to get our food in spurts. So the first person to order got her spring rolls and curry before I got my wings and buns which I got before my friend’s rare beef bowl. So it might be better to order all at once and split, but then you pay when you order, so maybe not.
The wings were delicious (but a bit too hot to hold, so they were definitely freshly cooked). They were a great mix of sweet and spicy. Conveniently, my buns came out quite quickly afterwards, so I could eat one of those while I was waiting for my wings to cool down again. And they’re stuffed pretty well with meat. A bunch fell out. And they buns were really good sized and really tasty (and a great deal for £6.00). After finishing my buns and my wings, I realized my eyes were a bit larger than my stomach as I was quite full. Unfortunately, my friends mentioned they thought theirs were lacking a bit in flavor, as one of them had to add the sriracha sauce conveniently located on the table to his soup. (There’s also Hoisin if you so fancy). But mine was delicious, so I think I must have just ordered correctly.
We finished the meal with some Vietnamese egg coffee, because who doesn’t want to try coffee with egg? And it was also delicious. Slightly sweet and creamy and served with delicious coffee. So I’d come back, although it may require some convincing of my workmates to give it another go. But it made a nice change from our usual surroundings.