This will probably be one of many stops (and reviews) for this little gem. Many times this place (Scotland) has tried to attempt Vietnamese food, in Edinburgh and Glasgow anyway, and I've always walked away unsatisfied and, quite frankly, offended that someone tried to pass it off as authentic Vietnamese food.
Search no more my friends. The wait is over. I can tell you, as someone who has fish sauce running through my veins while in my mother's womb, this is a legitimate Vietnamese restaurant. How do I know?
They leave fish sauce, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, and sriracha on each table. It's kind of a dead giveaway, especially at Vietnamese restaurants--in California anyway. By the way, California has one of the largest Vietnamese communities outside Vietnam, so I know what I'm talking about.
The Chef owns a Vietnamese restaurant in London and saw the lack of representation out in Glasgow. Beautiful. The decor makes me feel like it's my home away from home, especially when they've got the Vietnamese music going on for the ambiance.
I ordered pho with spring rolls and a banh mi house special for the road.
There are two types of spring rolls that Vietnamese typically serve, the smooth crispy wrapper or the rough crispy wrapper. They serve the rough version here on a bed of lettuce and herbs with a side of sweetened fish sauce as your dip. Go ahead and add some chili and squeeze a bit of lime into your fish sauce. Wrap the lettuce around the spring roll and dip. It's a nice burst of freshness from the herbs with a flavorful bite of warm meat mix all tied together with the fish sauce. It was the perfect starter.
The pho was beautifully done. Add your bean sprouts, squeeze a bit of hoisin sauce, sriracha, and lime. You're ready to dig in. You know it's authentic pho when you can smell the aromas of ginger, star anise, bone marrow, among many other core ingredients for the broth. The noodles are not typically the noodles I eat back home, so I suspect that the chef serves pho Northern style. Just as good, maybe even better.
I ended my meal with a nice cup of Vietnamese iced coffee. Don't be fooled. Vietnamese coffee is not like any other coffee. It must be brewed using the slow drip filter and condensed milk is the only sweetener added. If it's not that, it's not Vietnamese coffee. It will keep you wired!
I had the banh mi later that night. It had slices of pork roll, pate, and cheesehead.. along with the regular garnishes of pickled carrots and daikon, and sprigs of cilantro. The ingredients were right, but I just wish that it was on a proper French baguette. However, I'll take what I can get.
Along with what I got, I'm looking forward to coming back to try their banh xeo (Vietnamese crispy crepes), bun bo la lot (charbroiled beef wrapped in perilla leaves with vermicelli), ca kho tho (braised catfish with rice--by the way, where do you get catfish around here?!), and my all time favorite bun bo hue (spicy beef noodle soup). I plan on updating this review.
I only wish that he opened the restaurant in Edinburgh rather than Glasgow, but paying that £12.70 for the train ride over to Glasgow is worth it just to get a little taste of home.
Please come, try. And I say this because I love when people fall in love with Vietnamese food. If you're unsure of what to eat or need to recommendations based on your preferences, message me (or invite me!) (: read more