I was looking for somewhere to eat before watching Girl from the North Country at the Noel Coward theatre. Luckily being very central there are no shortage of options. And since the lines and security are minimal, it really means you can take your time dining beforehand. Com Viet was just around the corner (with Amorino gelato opposite FYI).
The menu is very good and has a host of homestyle dishes including banh xeo and bo luc lac, which are less often found.
- Green papaya salad with prawn - a nice version with quite a strongly vinegared nuoc mam dressing. The prawns were juicy and there was a good amount of peanuts added;
- Fried quail - the quail itself was cut into 6 segments, quite tender and flavoursome. However the dipping salt was extremely heavily seasoned with full crystals of MSG visible throughout;
- Beef pho - a decently flavoured beef broth (MSG added no doubt) with excellent noodles that were cooked perfectly and not soggy at all. The raw beef had been dropped in and there were slivers of raw ginger, which seemed out of place;
- Bun bo hue - decently flavoured pork/beef broth although wasn't anywhere near chilli enough.
They didn't serve any Thai basil or sawtooth herb for pho or the laksa leaf for BBH, but instead coriander (which is fine in pho) and mint (which is ok for BBH).
The food is nice (with MSG) and the prices are a little more than the standard Vietnamese in London (owing to location). I'd eat there again although the overt MSG in their food may play on my mind a little...
