Song Que for your Supper

Lying half-way up Kingsland Road, fifteen minutes from Old Street tube station the mint green cantine-style interior of Song Que heaves with hungry diners. There are several other vietnamese restaurants and cheapo cafès along this road, but this is the only one with the serious queue at the door, and don't let that put you off, the waiter would free a table up for you if it costs him his daughter. This is no-frills, no trimmings, good-quality comfort food. Mains cost an average of £6 and are extremely generous. Flavours are bold and service is fast with some pretty witty banter coming from the staff. Don't expect to be fussed over and to lounge about once your plate's been cleared, there's others waiting behind you. Do, however, expect friendly and efficient service and a tasty and extensive menu.

Tried and tested:

Spring rolls - crispy and golden but a tad greasy for my taste
Vietnamese summer rolls - these were divine, full of fresh flavours and good texture
Pho Tai (rare beef noodle soup) - heart-warming and delicious, but could've been just a teensy bit more generous with the meat.
Pancake with prawn and chicken - light fluffy egg pancake with crispy beansprouts and very tender prawns
Grilled squid with ginger and spring onions - the squid was fresh and not at all rubbery
Chilli salted squid - this was a strong dish, popping with chilli
Lemongrass chicken with peppers - again, a real fiery kick of lemongrass and crunchy peppers for texture
There's jasmine tea and a varied selection of Vietnamese bottled beers as well as the regular beers.


Cost: about 14 pounds per head for two courses and a drink.


134, Kingsland Road
London
E2 8DY
Closed Sundays
Children Welcome

Toronto Foodie Adventures... continued!

Now I'm on a roll, a spring roll that is!

Browsing through my photos from that long ago trip to Toronto, I came across a delightful duo of pics of Abi (of the mighty gastro-literature Literonomy blog) and I slurping our way through big steaming bowls of Phō at Kensington market's branch of cheap n cheerful Vietnamese chain Phō Hung. $CD 5 got you a heaving bowl with generous slivers of raw beef, barely poached in the delicate, coriander-laced noodly broth.

Behold the cheap formica, squeezy Sriracha sauce bottles and those über-cheap chopsitcks that give you splinters as you prize them apart. Hunker down for tasty, cold vietnamese spring rolls

and pho, if you're feeling unoriginal - as I was - you'll still be delighted with the results. Otherwise the menu of over 100 dishes is split aptly into sections (seafood, vegetables, beef, etc.) and the sweet ladies running the place, no English here, will engage joyfully in the grand art of menu-pointing and dubious scribbly-looking bill writing before serving you within about 3 nano seconds of you having ordered. I do so like speedy service!