Viet

Reviews

• Nice

  Not the best vietnamese i've had but certainly not bad if you're looking for a quick bite!

  60

  Bakr A.
  Review Date: 11/02/2009 Report review
• Better than the 'Pho' Chain

  After some rather naughty Tuesday night binge drinking, we decided to come here at around 10pm for some food. I have to say, a big factor was that it was BYOB. Furnishings are very basic and lighting is stark. We chose a red curry, a green curry and a beef pho for myself, with some summer rolls nad banh xeo on the side. The summer rolls were gorgeous; really fresh tasting and crunchy, definitely reminiscent of (our non-existent) summer as the name suggests. The beef pho I had was excellent. Tender slices of pink beef with a big bundle of rice noodles sat in a a fragrant broth accompanied by a plate of lime wedges, beansprouts, chillis and herbs. It was immensely satisfying. I have to agree with other reviewers; the service wasn't exactly 'with a smile'. When our mains came, they brought out two bowls of pho, 2 green curries and a red; the extra pho we hadn't ordered. When we told the waitress this, she looked at us doubtfully and didn't seem to believe us until one of our party said "can you tell us why we would order 5 mains plus starters for a table of 4?" All in all, a great cheap eat and nothing fancy. It definitely beat the insipid pho I had at the Great Titchfield Street branch of the Pho chain.

  Hollowlegs
  Review Date: 10/10/2008 Report review
• Cheap & Cheerful?

  A cafe style restaurant with cheap Asian food on offer including Vietnamese. The Vietnamese soups were very good but some of the other food was disappointing. The portions served are large and the prices very reasonable.The service was adequate but they could be a bit rude at times. This restaurant does get busy at peak times but you don't have to share a table with other people so at least you get a little privacy.The restaurant is very central therefore near where all the nightlife is.The food here was definitely cheap but the staff not very cheerful!

  Jes1uk
  Review Date: 06/09/2008 Report review
• Vietnamese Food in Soho

  I know there are many Vietnamese restaurants over in East London but it’s not often that I’m in that area. Where I do frequent is Soho, in central London, due to the variety of shops on offer there. One place that we do like to have a budget dinner is Viet, one of the few Vietnamese restaurants not in East London!I recommend sticking with the Vietnamese dishes on the menu. We did eat a pad Thai here once which was truly awful, all overcooked noodles and tomatoey sauce. On a recent visit, we started with an order of cha gio, those little and lovely fried meaty spring rolls, along with their accompanying fresh herbs and chili dipping sauce, grilled lemongrass pork on cold rice noodles for me, and a combination rice, with shredded pork and pork skin and a crab meat ‘cake’ for Blai.Blai’s dish was quite plain though not too bad but the winner was my grilled pork. There was so much flavour in the pork, probably marinated for a long time, and I love eating the cold noodles alongside. A small bowlful of nuon cham (a light dipping sauce of fish sauce, lime juice, chili, garlic and sugar) is served on the side to pour overtop, dressing the mixture that can be dry without it. The whole bowlful is light and fresh and perfect for summertime (or anytime) eating.One of my favourite things to eat there is their bun cha gio or hot fried cha gio served with cold rice noodles and lots of fresh raw herbs and vegetables. You can see that I really do love Vietnamese bun! I’ve also had their pho and bun bo hue, both noodle soups, the former being thin flat rice noodles in a beefy (or chickeny if it’s pho ga) stock while the latter is thicker round rice noodles in a spicier broth. Both are served with plenty of the fresh herbs and raw beansprouts, to be put into your soup at your will.I do suspect that there’s a hefty amount of MSG in the soup but hey, when most of the one dish meals hover at around the £5-6 mark, it’s hard to complain. And they do fill you up! Mmm…I’m craving some noodle soup now!Photos: http://tamarindandthyme.wordpress.com/2008/08/23/viet-vietnamese-food-in-soho/Final note: I do agree with what Walid says about service - it's not the best in the city and depending on who's working that day, it can be quite terrible. A star off for that.

  Sulin
  Review Date: 01/09/2008 Report review
• cheap and cheerful

  I would highly recommend Viet. Although it is small (so if you are on your own, you may well have a random at your table), and you may feel slightly rushed being there, the food is fast and always piping hot. The dishes are cheap enough to have a side and main dish (and possibly a drink that isn't tap water, which they are always fine with) for under a tenner. The dishes are also great to share with friends. I recommend any of the dishes in soup or the pad thai varieties if you are new to vietnamese food. There is something really here for everyone here, whether you are a veggie or love any type of seafood.

  Shopaholcleo
  Review Date: 11/08/2008 Report review
• Good Pho

  Read some good reviews, and it stood up to them. The plain beef pho was excellent (and huge), the "special pho" ironically wasn't as good. Great summer rolls (like a spring roll but not deep fried) though. Alway fun to share tables too.It's bring your own booze if you want a drink with your meal, and £2 corkage on bottles of wine, which is pretty good.

  Coldclimate
  Review Date: 10/06/2008 Report review
• Disappointing

  After reading the reviews by coldclimate and lenalouise I was very much looking forward to trying out Viet.Ok lets start with the good points, as lenalouise wrote in her review the warm beef salad is indeed quite nice and excellent to start working your appetite for the main dish. The spring rolls that coldclimate had were also quite good. I had the King Prawn with noodles which was quite good and of course the pricing is excellent at £10 per head for a shared starter and a main dish.Now what brings this place to a 2 stars and very nearly a 1 star is the incredibly poor service. I had reserved a table for 4 and left them my name + mobile number. Because we arrived 8 minutes late they had canceled my reservation without calling me to check if I was coming or running late and gave our table away. Luckily for them they managed to squeeze us into a smaller table.Mistake #1, Mistake #2 the waiter seems to have no clue about the food he served. My friend can't eat flour and thus we tried to identify dishes that were flour free, which of course he had no clue. Mistake #3 taking forever to take our orders and bringing our dishes one at a time instead of all together, thus we waited for everyone to be served before eating our meal.I would have given this place a 1 star if the food wasn't so cheap, but I prefer paying extra if it means receiving a better service.

  Walid
  Review Date: 10/06/2008 Report review
• Best Vietnamese so far in London!

  I didn't even know Viet existed and randomly tried it out when we were in Soho one day. The food is utterly beautiful, another hidden gem! They have deep yet delicate flavours in their aromatic soup base and also do the tangy, sweet and chilli flavours that also exist in Vietnamese cuisine well. When I first went, there were 8 of us so we tried most of the things on the menu. I would strongly recommend the warm beef salad. It was heavenly :D. Their Banh Xeo is superb aswell. They managed to get the pancake so thin and crisp whilst still managing to hold together.For mains, we all had a bowl of pho noodle soup. I had the spicy beef and pork one - plenty of flavours coming through the soup and a good portion size. I tried some of Lisa's chicken one and the meat is melt in your mouth tender, it just put a smile on my face! The prices are really low here and I would actually be willing to pay twice as much for the food, it's that good! We shared 6/7 starters and with a main each, it only came to a tenner each which is fantastic value for money. It's quite a small place so you may have to wait a few minutes for a table.

  Lenalouise
  Review Date: 07/03/2008 Report review