New Saigon Cafe

I hate to pull out the good ol’ Viet-​card, but growing up only eating Vietnamese food at home, I’m extremely bias when going to Vietnamese restaurants. I was strolling around the city after an interview looking for something Asian. Obviously being in London you really need to specify which spectrum of the Asian rainbow you want and I decided on Vietnamese. Using the oh so handy Unilocal app, I found that I was in a super close proximity to a new Vietnamese eatery. Looking oh so dapper (not relevant), I almost missed the place because they didn’t have their banner up yet. No matter and good thing I found this place because it was yum-​to-​the-​my!
It’s a super small place, couple of tables, individual seating at the window and the nostalgic smell of home cooked phở creeping from the Kitchen. The menu had North Vietnamese items, so being from the South, I had to ask for my favorite dish, bun thit nuong! They offered me the Bun Cha and I will skip to the part everyone is waiting for… it was so delish my greedy noodle sucking mouth gobbled it so quickly it stood no chance against me!
More than that, the owners, cute couple who just wanted to open a nice small Viet-​erie, were super nice! We chatted a bit, told our live stories and bonded over some Da Chan (vietnamese lemonade). Then when it came time to pay… no cards! AAAAAAH!!! With no cash and an empty plate, the couple laughed and told me it was perfectly fine to go grab some cash at the nearby Waitrose trusting that I would come back, which of course I did. A good deed and good Bun Cha should never go unpaid!!! Will I be back here again??? Hellz ya as I need to try their entire menu!!! What’s the Vietnamese word for nom nom nom?!? no matter! As long as that good food is in my mouf!

That’s a five! Excellent food and very good service. I had the nems and the grilled pork. I’ll go back to try everything else

A decent place is somewhere you go back to. A good place is somewhere you want to go back to. This restaurant is a solid choice for lunch around Farringdon. The vermicelli (bun) dish is great with the chargrilled pork. The special fried rice is a favourite of mine. Both are filling. If you are looking for something smaller but still delicious, I would go for the grilled meat sandwich. I haven’t tried the soups here yet.

Really good Vietnamese restaurant has opened in Angel. Thank god — I’m so fed up of those hipster places in Shoreditch and Upper St (really not authentic anymore). So far, everything I’ve had has been good. Try the vermicelli with grilled pork & spring rolls, or the phở — and the banh mi is good too. Honestly, I’m Vietnamese and this is where I choose to get my lunch. Nuff said.