I have a confession to make. Yesterday evening I committed adultery. No not to anyone of the male description (this isn't Made in Chelsea) - in fact I cheated on my favourite Vietnamese restaurant on the Viet mile in Shoreditch. I have for the past 18 months stayed completely loyal to Mien Tay - but since they have stopped being BYOB my eyes have wondered. I was told about a Vietnamese place in Dalston on Englefield Road which was apparently not only delicious and cheap, but still BYOB - I had to try it.
Initial online research seemed to generally agree that the food is authentic but the service can be slightly abrupt (that is me politely brushing over some of the stronger language used). I warned my dinner partner of these reviews and we made our way down towards Haggerston, picked up a couple of cold ciders on the way and began our search. Had I not read reviews warning me that the outside was easily missed I kept my eyes peeled and eventually found what can only be described as a derelict old gentleman's club (again being polite).
At 7.30 we were the only people there but the place quickly filled up. After perusing the lengthy menu I went for some Vietnamese clear spring rolls with spicy pork (£4). They were nice and refreshing if too filled with noodles and not enough veg for some crunchy texture.
For my main I went for my usual favourite - a spicy Pho with prawns. Now call me childish but one of my favourite bits of a pho is adding the bits of foliage/ herbs and chillies and lime juice myself. I think that maybe had I ordered the normal pho they would have provided this but instead I entertained myself with adding chilli flakes in oil... and then quickly choking. Having said all this the broth was nice and flavoursome and a big old generous hug in a bowl for only £7.
I was assured by Jenny that her Singapore noodles with chicken, pork and prawns was good but I was too full from the 10 or so king prawns in my pho.
All in all the food was really good and you can't complain at £14 each for a main, a starter, corkage (£1.50pp) and service charge. And to be fair - the service wasn't as bad as I had read about... Sure there were some slightly short and snappy moments - but we were given glasses of water without asking for them and they took our drinks away to open them for us with now complaint. No worse than some other places I've been. Now the main question... Am I dumping Mien Tay? The answer is no. I may stray from time to time back to Huong Viet due to proximity and BYOB but when I want the best Vietnamese, I will still be travelling down the Kingsland road.
Huong Viet
12-14 Englefield Rd
London
N1 4LS
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