Vietnamese Restaurants in London

Top of Shoreditch and bottom of Kingsland Road before the bridge around the corner from Brown's strip club. There are several Viet cafes, Viet Hoa and a few others; very good and very cheap. There's also a few around the Hackney Empire but don't know road names.

I definitely second Harvey's advice. There are various Vietnamese restaurants clustered along the Kingsland Road. My personal favourite is Song Que. It is on the next block along from Viet Hoa. The food is fantastic (and the trip the toilet is certainly unique). We go often after work, and everyone that I have taken has always enjoyed it. If you want street level authenticity, I am aware of no better place in town to find out.

In contrast, be careful with the Central London Vietnamese restaurants as despite the branding, they tend to be either pan-Asian or only serve one or two Vietnamese dishes. As a rule of thumb, if they don't have Pho on the menu, how authentic can they be? The couple that I have been to (one in either sub-category) failed ot impress.

The final camp of Vietnamese restaurants that I am aware of are of the fusion type. Bam-Bou on the bottom of Charlotte Street is very good (and the bar across the street at the Charlotte Street Hotel is a great place for a few drinks, and then a few more) but is a lot more expensive and far from the everyday Vietnamese kitchen. Opium is another that falls into the same category nearby. Both have private members' bars on site.

Have fun along the Kingsland Road!

Thanks Harvey, Willito.

Are there any BYO's along there? Someone mentioned something...

Any good ones in the north? (England not London), and as I'll be in London for the Cream concerts, any good ones easily accessible from Gloucester road tube?

Is this one any good?
Nam Long Le Shaker
159 Old Brompton Road, SW5 0LJ

Opposite to where I am now sitting is Berlin's only Cambodian restaurant, and very nice it is too, though one friend did comment that they really shouldn't use blue plastic bags as table clothes !


Fritz Von I can do science me

While Nam Long is technically a restaurant, the food is not its main attraction. It has the dubious distinction of being one of the American investment banker's pulling places of preference. It is type of place where you would drink Flaming Ferraris (a noxious and aboslutely horrible experience) while trying to put the moves on a PR from Putney (equally noxious, but maybe not quite so horrible as an experience).

It is not an establishment entirely unknown to me (though of course as a Canadian investment banker, I view the matter quite dimly ). While I do remember rather tasty finger food going around (satays, etc.), the hangovers remain in mind a little bit more clearly. It is blessed with a late liscense and phenomenally efficient bartenders.

Of course, I've only ever been on a Thursday or Friday. I think that on Sunday through Wednesday it is less of a meat market. In any case, it is good for a laugh. Keep your irony sensors on high, watch American Psycho to learn the lingo, and who knows Jez, you may find yourself on your way back to Putney rather than Yorkshire.