Viet Grill – The Vietnamese Kitchen

I've been to the Viet Grill a few times now and give up, I won't be returning. First and foremost are the staff, my last experience entailed a hostile waiter who, when taking the cash for the bill realised we had deducted the service charge and aggressively demanded to see the bill which he was shown. He then glared and stormed off. Why he thought we would be leaving a tip after practically having our food thrown at us beats me! The food here was enjoyable on my first visit but I've struggled to have a repeat of that. The last straw was when a "steamed whole spring chicken" arrived, it was most definitely not "whole" - a silverfoil bag of pieces (wing, thigh, rib - 8 pieces). All three of us diners agreed the food was bland and not a patch on the other restaurants in Kingsland Road.
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Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 3
Monday, June 15, 2009

I love Viet Grill and I go there monthly. I find the food to be fresh and consistent each time and it's great value for money.

I've been so many times over the years and only once did I find the waiter rude. So all in all its a great place to go and I would highly recommend it to anyone .
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Mr Khan
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 8
Friday, February 13, 2009

Wonderful food, excellent decor, helpful staff.

We book our christmas party here with a table for 35 people. We've been giving a set menu for group, but people can still choose their own mains from about 10 choices. The food was out of this world, very close to what I had in Vietnam 3 months ago. The posh restaurant with a massive fish tank doesnt cost you a fortune to dine, and we can call it so cheap for their standard and atmosphere.

Highly recommended. An exceptional Vietnamese restaurant in London.
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Beck
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 9
Wednesday, January 07, 2009

I have been to this place twice with my friend and was disappointed on both occasions. The menu is not very informative and the staff not helpful. The Saigon torch roasted pork belly was very disappointing. From reading the menu, I expected something crispy but instead was presented with a white, fat and wobbly, watery souplike stew with a boiled egg in the mix. Definitely not for the faint-hearted. I could not even manage to swallow one bite of this meal and refused to have it packed for me to take home. On the other occasion, I had the one dish meal made with cassava noodles.... once again a huge disappointment. The lotus salad was delicious though and the decor especially downstairs is acceptable.
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Tasha Bellefonte
Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 1
Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Excellent food, nice staff, delicious wine.

We had a very romantic evening. I brought my girl friend along with me the first time and it was one of the best meals I have had in a long time. We sat downstairs which looks amazing with its huge fish tank and low hanging dimmed lights. If you want to impress your girl bring her here.

I also organized a friends birthday meal here, we had 12 people and it was delicious. Although we were all ordering different dishes the staff were patient, polite and eager to please. The food matched the service, excellent.

I would recommend Viet Grill to anyone looking for a delicious, affordable meal and a great evening.
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Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Tuesday, November 11, 2008

It's been 4 years since I came to Warwick for my studies. Honestly, I miss my mom's food so much....Last weekend, I was in London, so I decided to have dinner with fews friends at Viet Grill. We came to the restaurant quite late, and it was so busy. After 10mins, we got our table. Staff was so nice and polite. She didnt know that I'm Vietnamese, she was so busy but still give us a little tour on the restaurant and the menu. With all the info she gave us, We ordered and had a wonderfull meal. Service was so sweet and friendly. That night, I felt like I was having dinner at home, from the taste of the lovely food that made me think of my mom, to the wonderfull and friendly service... I will be back...
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Christ
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Terrible service...

Expect to be treated with a huge amount of disdain... Food is alright, but the staff have a serious attitude problem.
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bob cobbing
Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 2
Tuesday, October 14, 2008

I have heard many good reviews about Viet Grill, so I decided to book a table for myself and friends (9 of us) for a Friday evening. When I called up, I spoke to three different members of staff, who was not very friendly. After about 10 minutes on the phone, I had finally confirmed my reservation.

On arrival, the staff were not very polite and sat us on a table which felt like a table for 6. When I approached a member of staff about giving us a bigger table, the gentleman was rude and said he put extra seats around the table and should fit us all. It didn't and I didn't bother waste my breath after that, as I did not want to spoil everyones night.

When it came to ordering our food, the menu was not informative, nor was the staff. We ordered various traditional Vietnamese dishes and drinks. There were mix reviews on the food. The spring rolls was very disappointing, so was my Pho ga (chicken noodle soup). But my friends were pleased with the bun bo hue and summer rolls.

Being of Vietnamese orgin, I must say this place has it good and bad points. The decor is lovely, but the staff need more training on there customer service skills. The food is average and the menu needs to be more informative.

There are many Vietnamese restaurants on Kingsland road, this is not the best but there are worse places to eat.
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Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 8
Monday, October 06, 2008

I have a very good knowledge about modern vietnamese cuisine, and this restaurant has actually passed the test. Being a vietnamese myself and a passion of eating out, in Vietnam and now in England, I found this restaurant is the best Vietnamese outside Vietnam. It has old favourite dishes like Pork Bell and Summer Roll, to modern dishes in high end restaurants like Green peppercorn duck and Feudal Roasted Beef. My pork belly reminded me a lot of my grand mum, while the duck made me felt like I am dining at a 5 star restaurant in Vietnam. The wine is actually the best value you can find (they dont serve nice wine in vietnamese restaurant, except this). With £28 you can have a Otogo Pinot Noir, which cost £18 itself at Nicolas.

Top tips: Book in advance and come in the weekend as they have a seasonal menu changing every week.

Meat: 9 Fish: 7 Duck:10 Wine: 9
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Jimmy
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Tuesday, August 05, 2008

This place had been highly recommended to me but I was seriously disappointed.

We all found the menu really confusing, a strange mix of Vietnamese and modern English cuisine with not very helpful descriptions.

For starters the summer rolls were fresh but lacking in flavour. For the main course a dish with squid, tomato and chilli was delicious but everything else was disappointing. Most particularly the 'Torch Roasted Pork Belly' which could not be further from that description. It had been boiled and was wobbly and rubbery, yuck. The wine list was quite expensive although the wine we had tasted very cheap.

The accoustics were terrible, very difficult to hear my friend sitting right next to me and visa versa. Also the cost of £65 was a lot higher than I have paid at other local (and far bettter) Vietnamese Restaurants.

Very disappointing all in all.
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Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 1
Saturday, August 02, 2008