Address: 234 Evelyn St, London SE8 5BZ
Website: eat-vietnam.co.uk
Sông Quê Café
What to order: Bún bò Huế (Huế-style spicy beef rice noodles)
Sông Quê Café’s signature green-and-yellow exterior is an unmissable sight along Kingsland Road. This stalwart of the Vietnamese restaurant scene is one of the most popular on the Pho Mile, which stretches from around Hoxton station up towards Haggerston. It was founded by the late Lot Van Pham in 2002 and is now run by his wife, Anh Phuoc Thi Pham, and their daughter Sharlene Pham. Inside, the restaurant is big, airy and bustling, with servers darting around with bowls of hot soup at surprising speed and elegance. The menu here is quite large, particularly the starters – you could have an entire meal of starters alone, and to be honest, that isn’t a bad shout. But a bowl of spicy bún bò Huế, beef noodles from the historic city of Huế in central Vietnam, is perhaps the most healing bowl of broth you’ll ever have.
Address: 134 Kingsland Rd, London E2 8DY
Website: songque.co.uk
Lò Bánh Mì
What to order: Bánh mì Thịt Quay (roasted pork belly)
Every time the topic of great sandwiches comes up, bánh mì goes straight to the top of the list. Lò Bánh Mì, on Borough High Street, slings some of the absolute best bánh mì in London and the secret lies in the bread. Bánh mì was borne from colonisation, after French colonisers brought baguettes to Vietnam – but local bakers altered the recipe by adding rice flour, which resulted in a lighter, fluffier bread with a very thin, shatteringly crisp crust. This makes Vietnamese bread the perfect vessel for fillings like roast pork, cold cuts, pâté, pickled carrots and daikon, fresh coriander, and mayonnaise. Lò Bánh Mì bake their own loaves daily, which sets them apart, and their Thịt Quay version is a twist on the traditional sandwich, loaded with roasted pork belly, crunchy crackling and homemade hoisin sauce.