Viet Garden

Any restaurant with the word “Viet” in the name pipes my interest, so I had to go in to test things out, and was quite surprised by the result.

Food

True to form, ordered the small size Pho flat rice noodle in a light fragrant soup with beef (£4.30) was surprisingly tasty, as I definitely was not expecting much from this out of the way place in Islington. The stock was very good, good flavour, a bit tangy. Noodles of a good consistency. I only had problems with the beef, which was a bit tough and tasteless, and they definitely don’t give you enough herbs for your soup. Bun thit nuong char-grilled pork (£7.25) was not quite what I expected. You get some noodles with no soup, cucumber and lettuce, and a sizzling plate of pork. Flavours were generally good, could do with a bit more contrast besides salt, otherwise, very pleasant.

Rating - 6.5

Atmosphere

It was virtually dead on a cold and rainy Monday lunch. It is situated on the inside of an old house, and the whole place reminds me of a pub in its layout, and they could do with some more light to make the place appear warmer.

Rating - 1

Service

One smiling waiter who was very gracious and seemed amused at our group of pregnant women and their partners, but was kind to explain everything to us. Surprisingly the pho took the longest time to come out, so I guess they weren’t just reheating it.

Rating - 3.5

C-factor

Reasonable price for quantity and quality.

Rating - 1

Brownie Points - 12

Info

207 Liverpool Road
London
N1 1LX
Phone +44 (0) 20 7700 6040
Website