Song Que

This place is frickin awesome! The food was excellent - good, satisfying hangover-curing pho... the spicy squid was fantastic, as was the quality of cha gio. Who cares about the service - this is not a michelin starred place... they were kind enough to me - the MOST important thing... the place is CLEAN! you can trust that their food is clean, fresh, and prepared under sanitary conditions... will definitely go there again!!
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PHO REALS!!!
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 10
Sunday, August 17, 2008

Can't fault the food, great variety and very reasonably priced, seems very fresh even if a few people suggest the starters might have been cooked from frozen, and absolutely very tasty. The service is definitely not the best, you have to struggle to get waiter's attention, but the place is so busy you can't really blame them. Definitely recommended!
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Tom
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 10
Wednesday, July 30, 2008

What it lacks in decor it more than makes up for in food quality and speedy service. As many of the comments before, don't don't don't go for the chinese dishes - you'd be wasting your opportunity to taste some of the best value and freshest vietnamese food in London. I'd been a few times and always opted for a Chinese dish, how stilly I was.

The service is polite, fast and attentive but it does get very very busy, so if you don't like getting close to your fellow diners, don't go at a busy time. The thing is, it's always busy!

The bill for two soft drinks, two starters and two main course - totally filling for two grown men - was just over £19 excluding serivce (and they don't make a big song and dance about it not being included - given the really cheap prices, I find this very admirable). How can you beat that?
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WIll Smith
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Monday, April 07, 2008

The bustling atmosphere and frequent queues to get seated are a testament to the success of this consistently great restaurant. Fantastic value for money and with about 20 different types of pho to choose from, it's hard to go wrong. Avoid the Chinese-style dishes scattered around the menu, the Vietnamese stuff is streets ahead.

The chilli squid starter was incredibly moreish and the rice paper spring rolls delicately and deliciously flavoured. I also had a wonderful beef pho with tender meat that fell apart.

Service was efficient.
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Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Monday, March 17, 2008

My first experience of Vietnamese food and I'm now hooked. Went for work Christmas do and the bill for 8 of us including alcoholic drinks was £86!!!! The food was so tasty and the portion sizes were really generous. Service was discrete but there was always someone to hand when we needed anything. Each dish we picked from the extensive menu had so much flavour and it all tasted really fresh. Lots of choice for vegitarians as well. Booking recommended expecially at weekends - definately give this place a try!
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Amy Lewis
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 10
Thursday, December 13, 2007

Our first experience in Song Que Cafe. It was a very pleasant and looked clean. The service was good it was not rushed or ignored by the waiters, bearing in mind that for a party of 8 people we went in at 2.p.m. on a Sunday afternoon.

We enjoyed the food very much especially the softshell crabs - no need to worry about peeling the hard shell or sticky hands. The Vietnamese deep fried spring rolls and the rice paper wraps with prawn, veg and noodles were really nice. For the main course we had the beef noodles soup and a couple of our party had the grilled pork vermicelli noodles they were really tasty.

For drinks the ice coffees and home made lemonades are highly recommended. It was reasonably priced, and we highly recommend Song Que for anyone wanting a first experience with Vietnamese food. We will certainly be going back there to try out some more.
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Andrew & Jennifer
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 10
Sunday, September 16, 2007

thoughts on first experience of Song Que last night...

- don't be put off by somewhat bland exterior, inside is very casual, clean and pleasant

- service was prompt and efficient

- very affordable (3 starters, 2 mains and 2 soft drinks came to £27)

- food was delicious and very well cooked

we had

starters

- fresh spring rolls (No. 2) 9/10

- soft shell crab 8/10

- sesame prawn toast 6/10

mains

- beef pho (No. 135) 9/10

- spring roll vermicelli (No. 60) 6/10

drinks

- homemade lemonade 9/10

- lychee drink 8/10

which can all be summed up in one word by my girlfriend's comment: "y-u-m-m-y" (cue post-prandial hiccups)
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kwok wing-hang
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 10
Friday, September 07, 2007

Good place to fill up cheaply on very decent food if you're in the Shoreditch area. My friend and I went here around 9.30 on a Thursday evening and it was packed.We were seated quickly but took a while to get our orders taken. The waiters rush around everywhere so don't be afraid to pin one down to take your order.

We shared the soft shell crab for starter: the typical spicy deep fried seafood fare (2 pieces per person). Given it was probably pre packed it took ages to arrive. This was quickly followed by my pork and prawn pho and his seafood noodle dish. The noodles were tasty, if a bit greasy. The pho was good and substantial though a bit thin on meat and served with a side of bean sprouts and chillis.

If you're looking for a healthy option the soups and salads are probably your best bet as much of the food is deep fried.

I'd definitely recommend trying the Triple Colour dessert for £2. It's served in a glass and contains a layer each of beans, green sweet noodly-type things and coconut milk. A strange but sweet combination of flavours. Uniquely weird! The bland pistachio ice cream was a bit of a let-down though.

We were amazed that the whole bill came to £24.40 for two. I didn't drink but my friend had a beer. Very reasonable price and food much better quality compared to Viet Grill further down Kingsland Rd. Would go again.
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Jedi - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 8
Friday, August 10, 2007

The food has been consistently good since this place opened, and the service increasingly shaky as its popularity has increased. One can accept that it is sometimes necessary to share a table or vacate it by a particular time. However, one of the two delicious soups we had last night was not the hot and spicy version which I ordered, and the other people at our table had the same dish brought twice. Furthermore, there was a dead fly in the salad. A waiter inspected the corpse and took the plate away. The two older members of staff then came over and said that it was not possible for a fly to get into the food. So apparently the fly's presence was a matter of opinion. Mine is that a modest discount would have been ultimately more profitable than a denial.
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Doctor Paul - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 7
Monday, July 23, 2007

Went last night, and found the food to be of a very good quality. It's not a Michelin star restaurant, and it doesn't try to be. I'm pretty sure the starters were cooked from frozen, whcih was a bit of a disapointment, but the rest of the dishes were really very good. Unfortunately i have no experience of Vietnamese food previously, but the food we ordered, which would not have looked out of place on a Chinese menu was far better than a lot of the Chinese I have had elsewhere in London, and at much more expensive restaurants. I'm sure if i knew enough about authentic Vietnamese cuisine, and had tried some, then thet too would have been superb. Likewise I can't judge it against other restaurants on Kingsland road, having not been to these, but i felt happy it delivered in its right...
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Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 10
Wednesday, June 27, 2007