Viet Grill

Sabrina's Passions ( 30s, Female, London )

“Wicked Crispy Frog”, “Piggy Grill Aubergine” and other such exotica await you at ‘Viet Grill’ restaurant in the east end of London. Nestled amongst a dozen other Vietnamese restaurants, I would say that Viet Grill is most definitely a cut above the rest. The interior is covered in a modern and chic flocked wall paper and the room is simple in décor, but the unmistakable sizzling of the woks, smell of the grill and – somewhat annoying – clattering of china and cutlery remind me that “We’re not in Kansas anymore Toto”. I had worked myself into a proverbial lather at the thought of having some authentic Vietnamese food and if I can’t get to Hanoi, then what better place to eat it in then the London equivalent of ‘Little Vietnam’ on Kingsland Road, London E2.

Printed paper placemats proudly display the menu, a confusing plethora of dishes, each with the correct Vietnamese text above. Strange little smiley faces dotted all over the sheet and, unhelpfully, dishes aren’t numbered, which adds to the mayhem of trying to remember your place on the menu. Confusion confirmed when instead of ordering grilled sirloin steak served with pancakes, I had clearly lost my place and ended up with stir-fried Monkfish! Great. I did manage to correctly order some Vietnamese prawn rolls to accompany the Monkfish. I was pleasantly surprised that the Monkfish dish was actually a very lucky find for us, marinated with galangal, saffron and sautéed with fennel and dill it was fresh, light and delicious. The disappointing part being the bland, plain rice noodles it was served over. Nothing a dash of soya sauce and some chilli couldn’t fix.

More confusion with main courses, as all the dishes have Vietnamese names, which making absolutely no sense to me, made it all the more difficult to locate our agreed choices. A classic beef ‘Pho’, ‘Feudal’ sirloin beef steak and Sake lamb skewers with cumin and fennel all made the cut. The Pho arrived and straight off it looked unappealing. Thin quivvering slivers of meat, iridescent with oxidisation, yet grey and flabby with bits of unappetising, untrimmed fat and other unpleasant bits floating in a dull looking stock, covering some rice noodles and a few sliced spring onions. A side dish containing a few bean sprouts, some holy basil and a single small red… More