This rough and ready Vietnamese take out and deli is cheap, friendly, and very good. I have the feeling that without crossing the Pacific this is as close as I am likely to get to Vietnamese street food. Please note: do not be put off by the plain unloved frontage; it is the food that counts.

Just east of 12th and Jackson on the edge of the International District.

I agreeI disagree

1.  
2. Send to friends

Sample an outstandingly fresh selection of authentic and contemporary dishes, those borne out of a visit to a morning market stall in Hanoi right through to dishes found at Ho Chi Minh City’s swankiest restaurant: La Vong grilled fish from Hanoi’s finest, Hanoi Dumpling from the Imperial Capital and Camfire Sirloin Steak from Saigon’s busiest restaurant.

To accompany your food select from the amazing wines hand picked by wine critic Malcolm Gluck then sit back and enjoy an exquistite meal in a uniquely relaxed environment.

301 Old Street
Hoxton
London EC1V9LA
Tel: 020 7729 8662
Tube: Old Street

I agreeI disagree

1.  
2. Send to friends

Fantastic Vietnamese cafe/bar, serving unbelievably cheap fresh noodles, soups, dumplings and juices in a trendy bit of Mitte. Young and cool and always very crowded, with a picture of Monsieur Vuong on the bright yellow and red walls. A welcome respite from too many wursts!

Alte Schonhauser Strasse 46, Mitte
www.monsieurvuong.de

I agreeI disagree

1.  
2. Send to friends

Modern Vietnamese restaurant and bar. The bar is great if you want a cocktail/beer and some nibbles, try the crispy squid. The restaurant has a outdoor terrace filled with chinese laterns and has very reasonable beautifully presented food. Try the sticky ribs/scallops on papaya salad.

1 kellet st, Kings Cross. 3 mins from Kings Cross station. check out website, www.libertine.net.au

I agreeI disagree

1.  
2. Send to friends

A typically smart, hip and upcoming TriBeCa ethnic restaurant, the food isn't half bad either. Also worth checking out for the backroom display of Asian artefacts. It doesn't feel anything like Vietnam itself, but that's not the point.

345 Greenwich Street
212-431-5888
www.viet-cafe.com

I agreeI disagree

1.  
2. Send to friends

One of the best cities for regional Chinese, Indian, Vietnamese, and a host of others. If you have a friend with a car, check out Scarborough and Mississauga for them, also Richmond Hill and Markham for Chinese. Almost every strip mall has cheap and amazing, authentic food, much more authentic and diverse than the better known areas downtown.

Spicy, vegetarian and non-vegetarian south Indian:
Anjappar Chettinnad, 3090 Eglinton Avenue East, Scarborough; tel: 416 265 2695

Fang's Restaurant (Hong Kong food)
3225 Hwy 7, Markham; tel: 905 947-9969

Dragon Dynasty (banquet food and dim sum)
2301 Brimley Road, Scarborough; tel: 416 321 9000

Vegetarian south Indian:
Saravana Bhavan 4559 Hurontario St (at Eglinton) Miss.; tel: 905 290 0769
also 1571 Sandhurst Circle (Finch & McCowan); tel: 416 293 7755

I agreeI disagree

1.  
2. Send to friends

Lygon Street: Italian restaurants
Victoria Street: Vietnamese restaurants
The area of Brunswick (for example, Sydney Rd): Lebanese and Turkish restaurants
The area of Richmond: Greek restaurants
The area of Armadale (for example, High St): Japanese restaurants
And obviously Chinatown for Chinese restaurants

I agreeI disagree

1.  
2. Send to friends

This Vietnamese and Thai restaurant is the perfect setting for a romantic meal. The decor is beautiful and tasteful, the food is absolutely delicious and there is a comprehensive wine list. It is also right in the heart of the old town making a walk there at night really picturesque. What really makes it though is the service, which is personal without being over-attentive; we found it by accident one year and paid another visit 12 months later and were amazed when the staff remembered us. Definitely worth a visit to Amsterdam alone.

Beulingstraat 9, 1017 BA Amsterdam; tel: 20 627 57 55
www.diningcity.com/ams/indochine/en/

I agreeI disagree

1.  
2. Send to friends

Great Vietnamese restaurant. The owner has expanded so there must be about 20 of them dotted around the island but the original one was the cutest, in an old colonial house in Waterloo Street, though it now seems to have closed down.

www.indochine.com.sg

I agreeI disagree

1.  
2. Send to friends

Anthony Bourdain, the New York chef turned best-selling author, is moving to Vietnam because he loves Vietnamese food so much.

Fortunately, Londoners without his resources can find excellent Vietnamese nosh in Hackney. The section of Kingsland Road just past Shoreditch is a veritable gauntlet of Vietnamese restaurants, but the Loong Kee Cafe is a standout.

Like most Vietnamese restaurants, the decor is simple, although it has had to up its game with the plethora of competition. The formica tops have been replaced by a more inviting matt surface and the walls have been repainted. But you do not come here for the interior design.

Besides the excellent pho, a hearty soup of flat rice noodles, brisket and thin red slices of steak that cook in the broth before your very eyes, Loong Kee makes a Vietnamese treat rarely found in London.

A northern dish, Banh cuon consists of very fine minced pork and black mushroom, wrapped in a white thin, translucent layer made of rice flour. The delicate creatures are sprinkled with dried onions, which have been fried so that you get a wonderful contrast between the velvety smoothness of the rice wrapping and the crunchiness of the onions.

Cha lua, a thick sort of mortadella and fish sauce complete the dish. If you don't meat, there is the prawn version, not unlike the long white steamed dumplings with prawn in the middle that is a staple of dim sum. The difference is that the Vietnamese rice wrapping is much more delicate.

Loong Kee does banh cuon to perfection and is the only restaurant I know in the area that does this dish. That's why you'll see plenty of Vietnamese customers tucking into banh cuon for Sunday lunch. It's also fun to see non-Vietnamese trying to eat banh cuon with chopsticks. They are very slippery and seem to take on a life of their own.

There is an added bonus to Loong Kee. If you fancy some culture afterwards, pop into the Geffrye museum literally next door, a quirky museum with a large garden, which traces the history of English living rooms from 1600.

134 Kingsland Road, London, E2 8DY; Tel: 020 7729 8344

I agreeI disagree

1.  
2. Send to friends

Simply the best Vietnamese food in London - and I've tried all the other Kingsland Road eateries. This one is next to the Viet Social Club. The char-grilled squid is amazing. The Sea Bass, at 6 quid, delectable! Go eat!

12-14 Englefield Road; te: 020 7249 0877

I agreeI disagree

1.  
2. Send to friends

This Vietnamese restuarant in Hackney serves the best Vietnamese food in London by a mile and very cheap. The goat in lemongrass and chilli is sublime. It's also a BYO so you can stuff yourself for under a tenner.

251 Mare Street, Hackney, London E8 3NS

I agreeI disagree

1.  
2. Send to friends

A lovely low-lit restaurant just off Charlotte Street, serving top-end Chinese/Thai/Vietnamese food in a French colonial-style townhouse.

Not the cheapest but perfect date or anniversary territory.

1 Percy Street, London W1T 1DB

I agreeI disagree

1.  
2. Send to friends