An Overdue Return to Song Que on the Pho Mile

I miss Vietnam. I have been thinking about this wonderful country for a while now. I want to return, but then again I want to return to a lot of places, but this weekend Vietnam had been playing on my mind.

It had been quite a while since our last visit to Song Que, and it was due a revisit. The reason for this is, as with most cities, too many choices to be had.

As I live at the other end of Kingsland Road in Stoke Newington, it’s a brisk walk that builds up your appetite.

Viet Grill – It’s as good as it gets over here….

Whilst we enjoyed our meal at Song Que, it left us a tad disappointed. As we both knew Vietnamese food is a lot better than that. The broth for the Pho was excellent, but it would have to be. As if any self-respecting Vietnamese restaurant serves up a limp sipid broth for their Pho then they should not be in business. Ahh like that chain Pho. Utter garbage, they even served the stock was luke warm. Disgraceful.

It’s amazing how people writing blogs, has really opened up a new sphere on restaurant reviews. Gone are the days of your over paid newspaper critics pushing for free meals for a good review. I’ve seen a few recently, and in the restaurant we cooked a fair few free meals for reviewers. So nowadays I’m more inclined to believe bloggers than professional reviewers.

So after reading quite a few blogs on the experiences at Viet Grill, which were all mostly positive. This is always a good thing. When 20 people say something is good it kinda is, well most of the time. But you can more or less spot the fake ones these days.

So as we have some friends who are making their way into Asia for the first time. We wanted to give them a taste of how good Vietnamese food is. It was also their first time out East, as pure Westerners, the East is a mysterious place for them, only glimpses of stories in the metro in the morning. But they were keen to come all the way over here. So we couldn’t say no. 

The interior of the Viet Grill is pretty swish, which is in stark contrast to the flashing neon sign on the outside. Lots of dark wood and moody green lighting. A complete change to other Vietnamese joints on the same road.

We were seated next to a fish tank of 3 bored looking fish that just stared at us during our whole time there. Reminded me of that scene in Monty Pythons Meaning of Life right before Mr Creosote enters the restaurant. Thankfully he wasn’t there that night.

The menu is long and varied, with some classic Vietnamese dishes, and some Viet Grill variations.

We started off with the the mixed starter platter was pretty good, although the highlight was the chilli salt and pepper fried squid, which had a lovely light crust to it. Lush. The deep fried spring rolls were scrumptious also, but did not match the fresh salad rolls, which we ordered as another starter. Just to get the party going you see.

These had that fantastic Vietnamese mint which has a kinda aniseed taste to it. Truly delicious and fresh. Best salad rolls I’ve had outside of Vietnam for sure.

The best lunch I ever had in Vietnam was Bun Cha. Its bar-b-q’d pork, served with white rice noodles, some salad and a fish sauce dip. Simplicity in its purest form. Viet Grill does it as a one pot meal. So the dip is below the noodles and the pork on top. It was good, but nothing like it’s original Hanoi counterpart.

Lina had the Bun Bo Hue, a spicy Pho originally from Hue. As with any self respecting Vietnamese restaurant if you cannot do a good Pho, you shouldn’t be in business. That’s why Viet Grill are still in business, the broth had good depth and a little spicy but not too much. T’was a great of pho.

Our friends stuck with something they could understand off the menu. It didn’t look too exciting and I cannot actually remember what they had, but they said it tasted great, and they were very happy.

With the amount of drinks we had before we ordered and during the meal, the bill was a little steep, which is easily done in a quality place like this where you really want to eat everything off the menu. The service was sometimes a little too much. One of us was running a few minutes late, but 3 or 4 waiters kept coming over to remove the cutlery from the empty seat.  It was a constant fight to keep them there. But this did mean they cleared away any empty plates right away. Which is a good thing.

Will be returning to Viet Grill really soon, but hopefully spending a little less.

Afterwards we stopped in at the Electric Showrooms on our way back to Old Street tube. Great place, it was a little quiet, but it was 11pm on a Wednesday night. So all can be forgiven.

I really like interesting odd pubs, and the Electric Showrooms definitely fits the bill. I’ve found my next set of Xmas lights, but how am I to steal that flashing peacock out back.

Although we never ate anything, the menu looked pretty good. Nice and simple. Good selection of beers and bitters. Good wine list to keep our wine head of the night happy. Must really explore this part of London much much more. 

Sông Qûe – Good Morning Vietnam …..

In my many many years of travelling around the world. One country I had the chance to goto but never did, mainly because of other peoples experiences there. I.e. they were negative. Was Vietnam.

I had apprehensions about going there, but Lina planned it, so we had to go. I’m so glad we did, as it really is now one of my most favourite countries. Not only for the food, but also the people, the landscape and generally everything. We had such a great time, even in Hanoi, which was my most and least favourite city in Vietnam. It tugged at all my senses and emotions. To that I was glad and sad to leave at the same time. After I left I wanted to return, but alas no. Laos was a calling and we answered.

Three things I had a healthy obsession about in Vietnam. One was the coffee. Thick, dark and strong, drinking it hot in the north, and cold in the south. Two was chicken with lemongrass and chilli. I had it as often as I could in literally every city we went to. The third and by no means least was Phô. In Hanoi we were having this delicious soup twice a day. Once in the morning for breakfast as in those cold mornings of the northern capital, Phô certainly warmed you up.

It’s a filling, deeply satisfying noodle soup with either meat or chicken, depending on what you order. I was partial to both, so used to split it quite evenly. It was so much fun just to wander the city and pick a small hole in the wall and have some Phô. None disappointed, and they all rejuvenated our weary bodies and mind.

So of course living in Islington, we are only a stones through from Kingsland Road. Which contains a good quantity of Vietnamese restaurants. Heaven on our doorstep.

So after buying the latest copy of Time Out’s Eating and Drinking Guide, I browsed the Vietnamese section, and with a list of recommended eateries on that road. We were off.

Sông Qûe really reminds me of a place we ate at in Quy Nhon. A strange town in central Vietnam that so wanted to be on the tourist trail, but really didn’t have anything to offer apart from its oddness. Its major appeal for us was that it wasn’t on the tourist trail. It retained a lot of its Vietnameseness. If that is a word. But you get the meaning.

Sông Qûe was jammed packed with people. The majority were Vietnamese, which is always a good sign of people longing for their homeland. They always head to a place that reminds them of it.

After a short wait some tables become free and sat down we did. Ordered a couple of Hue beers and browsed the menu.

I was going to have a big bowl of Phô, but I noticed chicken with lemongrass and chilli on the menu. Well I could not resist. Lina had some Phô with raw beef. An order of prawn salad rolls was asked for also. Well it would be criminal not to.

The salad rolls were just as we remembered them, well nearly. They lacked some herbs that are purely Vietnamese that just lift a salad roll from one level to another. But they were pretty good. Jammed with herbs, salad leaves and prawns. The peanut sauce was thick and a little spicy. Good combo.

Lina’s Phô had a good stock base. As without one, it’s well just a noodle soup. I once asked in Italy once, what was in the risotto today, and the waitress replied, “The stock is good today”. Nuff said. Without a good base, soups, stews and sauces are pants. It never had that intense beefy flavour you come to expect from simmering beef bones all day and night to produce a stock that, well is to die for. A bit like in El Califa in Mexico City, where they sell the juices of the meat as a soup. Delish.

Lina understandably was coy to share her Phô with me, and only let me have a little. I had to wait a few more minutes for my dish.

To say the end result was not worth the wait, was, well true. It wasn’t. It had a breath of lemongrass and no chilli. The chicken was moist enough and had been cooked in soy sauce, but it lacked any depth at all. The inclusion of nearly raw red and green pepper pieces on top was like a slap in the face. I was disappointed.

But I do want to return, as I love Phô, and it was pretty damn good. But I think I will give the majority of the other things on the menu a wide berth, as they looked and mine tasted like bad Chinese food.

As there are many more Vietnamese restaurants down Kingsland Road, I think it may be a while before we venture back into Sông Qûe if at all.