Viet Grill

We all gave out a laugh when we saw a little square on the side of the menu that said 'Recession proof meal'. That was a 2 course for £10 and why not so we went ahead and ordered that.

From the appetisers, you get a choice of either the Grand Imperial spring roll, chilli squid or lotus stem salad.

With the mains, you get to pick one from their main dishes and we all went with the vermicelli salad.

At this price, you get a decent and tasty fare that you can't complain about.
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Chopstix2Steaknives
7 Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 7
Tuesday, December 13, 2011

I have dined at the Viet Grill four times, the last visit was 10/12/11. The food has been good each time, I haven`t been impressed with the service given by the waiters/waitresses.,most seem to be preoccupied,as if serving food wasn`t the main part of their job. This was most noticeable on my last visit. I found my table was a bit "sticky" too...
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Mike Richards - View all reviews by this user
6 Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 7
Sunday, December 11, 2011

Standing out of the crowd of 13 Vietnamese restaurants here, Viet Grill is definitely the best.

What I really enjoyed here is the quality of meat. Rarely you have properly beef and duck with this high quality. Their prawns are from Red Sea, and their squid is very tender. If you care about what you eat, here is the best in Kingsland Road, maybe in London as well in term of Vietnamese Food.

I have to mention the quality of cooking is also excellent. People told me Pho in Song Que is very good, but after trying the beef in the Pho in Song Que and at Viet Grill, I prefer Viet Grill. The menu also has a fantastic Salad section, with things from Mangon Salad to Indochine beef.

Verdict: best in town for Vietnamese Food
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Marq - View all reviews by this user
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Sunday, August 14, 2011

Good food! love the fishtank and decorating. A bit noisy and the service wasn't good. The staff was pretty out of control. its better go for lunch.
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bianca
6 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 7
Sunday, August 14, 2011

Poor, poor, service. Food unquestionably excellent, but as at Cay Tre, the kitchen is let down by the staff, and more recently the greedy management hiking prices and halving portion sizes. New manager listened to comments and did nothing about them. A shame.
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Jamie Duncan
4 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 3
Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Average pho but had to ask (repeatedly) for fish sauce and chopped chillis - it comes with a whole unchopped chilli but it beats me how that's supposed to work when you only have chopsticks and a soup spoon

The 40 minute wait was also less than desirable. Back to Song Que then.
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Jane
5 Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 6
Sunday, February 27, 2011

Service could be better. The restaurant wasn't busy last Saturday, yet it took ages to grab a waiter/ess. Being Vietnamese myself, I thought the food was very good compared to the other restaurants in the same street. But I didn't like the prawn sauce that came with the Cha Ca La Vong dish. If you're not used to the fishy smell, you definitely won't like it. But I know how to make it to reduce the smell. Prices are also reasonable.

Overall, this is worth going to for a meal.
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Gourmet Observer - View all reviews by this user
6 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 6
Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Vietnam has one of the most sophisticated cuisines in the world and is one of the few countries I keep returning to particularly for its food.

Closer to home, I have been heading to Kingsland Road for my fix of Vietnamese food and have become Song Que’s indisputably “Number 1 Fan” in the last few years. I had resigned myself to its scary plastic lobsters and unfriendly service. If only I could taste its magnificent pho soup - all would be forgiven.

It is all about the food, and although I do not believe Asian cooking should necessarily be “cheap”, I certainly do not want to pay a premium for the sake of trendier decor. I have thus viewed the recent smartening up of some of the restaurants on Kingsland Road with a little caution.

It was with these thoughts in mind that Dr G and I went to the newly re-opened Viet Grill on Kingsland Road. Despite getting a complimentary meal offered by its PR machine, I feared I might dislike this restaurant.

It was a Friday evening at 8pm when we arrived and the restaurant was buzzing. Despite the long queue of customers, we were soon shown to our table. First impressions were good – front-of-house staff were friendly and polite, the restaurant had been painted with a beautiful design of banana leaves and decorated with some nice touches like wooden bird cages, a beautiful aquarium and some modern but discreet lighting.

Tables were positioned very close together and we soon struck up a conversation with a delightful couple “Olivia and Moosa” who were sitting next to us. They were regulars at Viet Grill and were very positive about the food despite being a bit weary of the high density of diners the restaurant catered for at any one time.

Our starters did not take long to come; these included “Mango Salad” (sun-dried squid, Viet mint, peanuts, mango) @ £7. I was delighted by this, and loved the flavour and unusual consistency of the sun-dried squid. It was a deliciously refreshing salad with some interesting flavours and started the evening on a good note.

The “Piggy Grilled Aubergine” (spring onions, minced pork in tangy sweet and sour sauce) @ £5.50 was the next starter and, in my opinion, was one of the best dishes of the evening. I love aubergines, and the addition of spring onions and pork to a rather delicate and well-balanced sweet and sour sauce made for a very good dish.

This was followed by the “Feudal Roasted Beef” @ £9, a Saigon speciality, this tasted as good and fresh as the ones I remember having in Ho Chi Min City.

A “Mixed House Platter” @ £7 per person was served next containing Mango Salad, Imperial Spring Rolls, Fresh Soft Rolls or Goi Cuon, Beef Wrapped in Betel Leaves & Chilli Salt and Peppered Squid. I always order goi cuon and beef in betel leaves whenever eating at Vietnamese restaurants, and Viet Grill’s did not disappoint. The Fresh Rolls had just the right amount of vermicelli, herbs and prawns, and were fresh and delicious.

This is one of the simplest dishes on any decent Vietnamese menu, and can be prepared well in advance. If prepared too early and not stored, it can smell and taste of the refrigerator. This was not a problem at Viet Grill. Fresh Rolls are also great to be made at home and served as canapes if you can master the softening and wrapping of rice paper sheets. I would recommend practicing it thoroughly before your guests arrive!

The first main dish was “Viet Quail Curry” (with aubergine, crunchy okra, coconut and spicy curry sauce) @ £8. This was unusually spicy for a Vietnamese dish but had some interesting flavours and textures coming through from the crunchy okra and quail meat. It was not an easy dish to share as the quail was served whole and on the bone.

The other main dish was “Slow Cooked Mekong Catfish” (poached in caramelised fish sauce, simmered in a clay pot and finished with cracked pepper and fresh chilli) @ £7.50. Viet Grill’s description which I quote above in brackets was very apt but it does not do justice to this fantastic dish – the sauce was deliciously sweet and salty and gave the dish a richness I had not yet tasted, complementing the fish perfectly. By far the best main of the evening and one I will make sure to order again.

I love having my food prejudices challenged in this way, and this time, I am pleased to admit that Viet Grill came up trumps. Most dishes on the menu were more sophisticated and authentically Vietnamese than other restaurants in the area with very friendly and helpful service.

Verdict – Delicious Vietnamese food served in beautiful surroundings by some very friendly staff. Viet Grill has certainly raised its game and I hope it will become a standard setter for other Vietnamese restaurants in the area. Highly recommended.
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The London Foodie @ thelondonfoodie.co.uk - View all reviews by this user
7 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 7
Thursday, February 11, 2010

We dined at the Viet Grill on Saturday evening. The service was fast although the starters arrived after / during the main courses and the waiters delivered some of the orders to the wrong people at the table. I really did not enjoy what I had ordered - the squid. I tasted someone else's catfish which was very good. My partner ordered grilled chicken and it was very bland. The food is priced reasonably. The wine was good but very expensive.
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5 Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 3
Tuesday, February 02, 2010

Having seen the previous reviews and rarely having the opportunity to eat Vietnamese, I turned up without a reservation yesterday evening (7th Dec). We managed to get a table and before long the restaurant was full. The menu was amazing and I could almost have taken a lucky dip. Both starters and mains were superb, could not fault the place 10/10
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tedzinho - View all reviews by this user
9 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Tuesday, December 08, 2009