No Nonsense

I live in south west London and have trekked all the way to Song Quê in Kingsland Street, near Angel, just for dinner. It's that good. Fiercely fresh and vibrant food, served up in a no-nonsense way, completely unassuming and honest.

With Vietnamese food, as with Thai, there is no hiding - the ingredients speak volumes. At first glance the place looks a little odd, to say the least. Bright green paint job, fairly industrial lighting, plastic lobsters guarding the walls, fake plants - you get the picture.

The key is in the clientele, however. Table after table of Vietnamese families fill the restaurant, a reassuring sign and pretty much a guarantee of a great meal to come. It was one of those places where I fell into a sort of trance, watching plate after plate of food come out, fascinated by all the wondrous looking dishes, plates piled high with prawns or steaming bowls of soup accompanied by great branches of Asian basil.

I was fortunate enough to be taken here by a Viet friend, which certainly made ordering the first time a little easier. Having a bit of help to guide you through the menu can be useful, but you'd struggle to go wrong on your own. Every single thing I have eaten here has been a real joy.

They say you can judge a Vietnamese restaurant on it's pho, or noodle soup, so this could be a fairly safe starting point if this is your first foray into this nation's amazing food. Probably best to avoid the ones featuring 'tendon', unless this is your cup of tea; go for something like rare sliced steak, which comes bright pink but soon cooks in the heat of the aromatic beef broth. Watch out for the chillis that come on the side - seriously nuclear.

A starter salad of crunchy green papaya, rather similar to the Thai Som Tam, was lifted by mint leaves, and garnished with whole steamed king prawns, slivers of crunchy deep fried garlic and the lightest, crispiest shrimp crackers imaginable.

The shrimp spring rolls, or goi cuon if you fancy trying your hand at the lingo, were fresh, light and delicious; wrapped in rice paper - a world away from the deep fried ones we are used to, served with the ubiquitous plum sauce, which all seem to taste the same regardless of filling.