Sông Quê

Always a pleasure to come back here, this time half hour before close, food is still delicious at ridiculous o’oclock.

Ok. I have been here many years ago. I bookmarked it specially to give it another go as a reminder of passing. I was passing. I was craving some type food. I was out voted by friends who voted in favour of Vietnamese rather than Japanese and Fried Chicken as we walked along this stretch. I was hoping for good things. I made sure I looked at reviews online and other sites as I can be OCD like that. I was sadly disappointed.
I must say this review is for everything but the Phở. I really should have got the Phở because everyone was having it.
The place was packed at 9.30pm but we managed to snare one last table for 3. A table too big for us so we separated out spaced.
Service was good. All good English and accommodating without any hassle and helping us with questions. Tiger beer good too of course. Good buzz about place too with being overly mad or too intimate.
Onto the meal though. Given that I haven’t had much Phở in London. And I mean proper Phở. The best one I’ve ever had was in Paris. The broth there was so good I tipped it over my face and guzzled it down. You get that right and everything else follows. As I said, I didn’t get the Phở. 1– because I didn’t want anything too heavy/​fatty after drinking most of day and 2– I don’t want to stereotype but seeing so many westerners/​English around me doesn’t make me follow their lead. If they are locals or native tongues (you know when you see authentic Chinese in a Chinese that’s a good Sign go sort of thing) then I usually do.
The starter of pork summer rolls. The rice paper was much darker and not the usually light colour. Obviously partly due to a darker filling. In hindsight always go for prawn. Summer rolls are better refreshing, a teaser to the meal. These were just gritty and not clean tasting on pallet. I did not enjoy these and was a prelude that set the tone.
We each had a main dish… meat (pork) with additional rice; a mango papaya salad and mine being a crispy noodle seafood dish.
The pork my friend got only had two pieces. Lots of rice. Meh. Good tasting pork though. Just needed more value for portion I feel.
The mango papaya wasn’t the best I’ve ever tried but not bad. Jut needed more freshness and zing. Just more to do it. When you know, you know.
My crispy noodle (they asked for soft or crispy). I wanted crispy and liked quite how crispy they made it. Not crunchy tasting more bite to it. It was a huge portion to be fair. That surprised me considering seeing the other two plates I had seen arrive first.
The dish overall. Well, I have to admit I wanted, I craved soft shell crab and chicken satay initially. Regardless of the Phở-​pas (get it? I’m here all week boom boom!) I wanted something meaty, protein no fattiness or heavy. Somehow I opted for noodle with seafood. So ok I got my seafood craving.
It pictures well, plump whole prawns, scallops and squid, maybe octopus too. But the sauce that binded it all together was of best described gloop. Just nothing really. I actually hate stir frys. Although this wasn’t as oily as most stir frys you make or order it just did nothing. Very disappointing.
I pride myself on never really eating bad meals because I know where to go. I have a long hitlist,
I know where I want to hit, but sometimes you do give places a chance. What I do realise is make sure you are at least trying what someone recommended. If esquire or Unilocalers are saying get the Phở, you damn well get the Phở (even if you don’t want it).
Of course food is subjective but I doubt I will go back here. If I ever do, and it will be on its last chance it will only be to try the Phở. But don’t bother with anything else unless your tastebuds don’t work.

Yum! Authentic Vietnamese food. The restaurant was big and had plenty of seating, and is located conveniently near the overground station. The phở was hot and flavourful, and of course delicious when paired with the sriracha and hoisin sauce. Felt it was a bit pricey for phở, but I suppose it’s the average prices for vietnamese food around London.

This place has gone downhill at an alarming rate. Whatever you do do not get takeaway. I purchased some «seafood noodles» and paid well over the odds. Having been here years ago and having positive memories I didn’t mind…
However when I got home I opened what was a sticky clump of unseasoned rice noodles with one prawn and one scallop.
Daylight. Robbery.
I was so annoyed. But given the time of night and my location, I was unable to return the «dish».
My recommendation would be to go elsewhere on kingsland road!

Why? Why that combination of apple green walls, golden plastic tablecloth and red chairs? This is a mystery. Tasteless when it comes to the décor, but oh my, all the taste is in the plates! Song Que has seduced us, from the first bite of our starters to the last drop of the beef phô. First that grilled beef in wild betel leaves, probably the single most tasty starter I’ve had in a while. Add on top of this the shrimp paste on lemongrass stick. what a treat!
My shredded pork + spring rolls on rice noodles was a delish, and my wife’s basic beef phô was exactly what she needed.
Don’t come here for a first romantic date, but this makes a perfect choice for a genuine Tuesday night bite if you don’t feel like cooking ;)

Really quite impressed with Song Que. The food was fresh and reasonably priced. The salt n pepper squid was a little tough but the soft shell crab was perfectly cooked, crispy and juicey. The pork vermicelli dish I had was splendid and the spicy beef phở just as good. Basic service but quick and pleasant enough. BYO too. £70 for 4 of us. Would go back.

I like the relaxed, down-​to-​earth feel at Song Que. It’s not one of the hip, newer Viets on Kingsland but simple, spacious and welcoming. Our go-​to dish are the vegetarian crispy fried noodles. I’ve tried other things which were also nice but I can’t recall loving anything else in particular. This is not a place where I’d take someone for a special night out but it’s perfect for an everyday lunch or dinner.

Food with hairs with bad manner of staffs.
There are plenty of other Vietnamese options around. Still regret why I chose this one.

I have to say that although I really do love Café East by Canada Water for their Bahn Cuon, I appreciate the better phở overall here at Song Que. Song Que does not have Bahn cuon, but it has a larger variety of food selection in general and has amazing fresh shrimp rolls and free tap water!
The service here is pretty spotty and they did forget about our appetizer, but the food was so good that all is forgiven.
The prices are no longer as cheap as they used to be (used to be around 7 quid for a bowl, now the rather large bowl is around 9). A bowl of phở, a bowl of bo bun, a spring roll, iced coffee and coke totalled to about 30 quid. I don’t love the price point, but I do love the food.

The food was delicious, the staff quick and helpful and the atmosphere fun. A friend and I shared the vegetable spring rolls (which I would highly recommend), prawn paste on sugarcane, spicy soft shelled crab and a main of stewed fish in pot with boiled rice, all of which were very tasty (although beware the fish in pot if you don’t like spicy food as there was lots of chilli in it). Our group was of 12 people and noone I spoke to had anything bad to say about the food.
I would however suggest arriving early if possible as it was very popular — we arrived at noon just as they were opening and by 13.00 it was packed and there was a queue waiting to be seated.

A friend took us there and oh boy what a good idea !
The menu is big, you’ll find A LOT of choice. It’s almost too hard to chose. I followed the advice of my vietnamese friend and went for the chicken bo bun and i did not regret it. I also took nems as a starter and jasmine tea. Everything was really good ans tasty. The portions were more than decent and i had some difficulties finishing.
The place was packed but they managed to find us a table fast and the service was fast and friendly. The noise volume was not too much which i sincerely appreciate as i cannot eat in an extremely noisy environment.
Their toilets were clean which i find important.
I would definitely go back to try out more dishes.

The grand-​daddy of the slew of Vietnamese places on Kingsland Road, they do a few things well, and we keep coming back.
Song Que has strengths and weaknesses. The phở, spring rolls, and bun cha are all excellent, and those are what keep us coming back. Everything else we’ve had has been decent but forgettable. Lemongrass chicken, summer rolls, various Chinese-​style stir frys, all fine, but not excellent. Stick to the Vietnamese classics and you won’t go awry.
The space varies from busy to raucous, with fairly abrupt service and zero romantic ambiance. But it’s a cheerful place, the food comes out quickly, the beer is authentic and not too expensive, and if you’re getting phở, you have to get it in person; takeaway just isn’t the same.
Overall, it’s a quirky place, but the good stuff is so good that we come here probably once a week, so by the voting-​with-​our-​feet measure, it comes out looking pretty good.

The g

Phở and BYO. Good. Seriously great broths. They really nail the soups here. The starters are a little deep fry heavy and it’s not quiet as fresh as I like viet foods to be but there is a serious amount of veg and herbs all through the menu.
Really large serving sizes and two types of sriracha hot sauce for you to chose from on the table. The menu is huge so you have to decide if it’s a sharing night or a solo soup night. The soups are comforting and filling and full of flavour. Highly recommended (unless celery isn’t your thing) is the prawn veg sweet and sour broth. This will most probably cure any sort of ailment they you may be coming down with due to the chilli and garlic levels. Delicious.
The pancake thing looks pretty great (again huge) but I’m yet to try. The viet spring rolls will solve any hangover problem.
They do have a card machine (apparently) but it always seems to be down so to be on safe side bring some cash with you.

It is hard to avoid the famous phở dish when you visit a Vietnamese restaurant and this time was no different. The rich broth was so powerful and savoury, cooked in beef bones and Asian spices such as star anise and ginger. The smooth and silky beef tendon and tripe benefited from the broth greatly and it was a bowl full of beef goodness. You can treat Song Que either as a quick grab or a proper dinner joint due to its extend long menu that suits both occasions, however it is a café at the end of day so don’t expect any fancy services and it can get very busy in the evening with a no booking policy.

It used to be better. Service is not as good as before and quality of food is going down… Still good, just not as good as before specially if you compare to the restaurants nearby :-) prices around 15pp including a drink.

I’d give it 3.5 stars but am rounding up.
The phở was quite authentic — good noodles and broth. I also liked the briskets, which were well-​cooked. We also ordered summer rolls, which wasn’t as impressive. Felt like the veggie contents inside weren’t very harmonious.
Vietnamese coffee was also good, though not as strong as some that I’ve had.
Overall, a solid place that I’d return to – but not perfection.

I love it here! This is my favourite if the Vietnamese restaurants along the Kingsland Road strip and everyone knows where I mean by ‘the big green place on the corner’.
Firstly, the starters. The prawn toast is made using slices of baguette, it looks odd because it’s something new, but you can tell it’s home made and it tastes great! Then there’s the cha gio — crispy, lovely, one-​of-​a-​kind spring rolls served with a hoi sin style dip which makes me want to just eat these for my whole meal…
…So I do! My favourite thing to eat here is the pork vermicelli rice noodles (bun) with extra cha gio on the top! It’s fragrant, fresh, good on a summer day when you don’t want a steaming bowl of phở in front of you.
But then there’s always the phở for cooler days! Always excellently, freshly made, always tasty and a huge range of different toppings to try. Add as much or as little of the herbs and chilies which come with it (I say add everything) and they start to infuse the soup as you eat it.
An authentic, delicious restaurant. It’s great value for money to boot!

Trying to get my phở fix in Europe…
It’s pretty decent but was hoping for something akin to Cali phở but got something closer to NYC phở.
The pros: low MSG use (huge bonus points for that) in phở, quality meat cuts, good size, noodles were right on, a bit of oil/​fat in soup (yes you need some of that yummy fat), attentive service, and solid traditional Vietnamese menu
The cons: phở is bland — I realized that there were no slice onions and it’s lacking an herb but can’t put my finger on which one, chao tom (shrimp paste on sugar cane) was tasty and cooked correctly but I wish they would have served it with fish sauce and not sweet chili sauce, and the iced coffee had a heavy caramel flavor — blah!
Looking at the crowd there were very few Vietnamese people which should have been a sign. And for those that saw other Asian people in there (per other reviews)… They were all Japanese! Nothing against them but I think they were tourists as well. And listening to the kitchen, the chefs are all Chinese (from my village which is pretty funny). So there it is… It is Chinese phở and I need keep looking for that perfect bowl. But I have high standards so I am giving them a 4 but in the world of phở they would have gotten a 3.

Angeblich soll dieses der beste Vietnamese Londons sein, so wurde es uns jedenfalls gesagt.
Dementsprechend hoch waren vielleicht auch die Erwartungen?
Als wir vor Ort ankamen, sanken diese aber rapide.
Die Örtlichkeiten waren alles andere als gemütlich, optisch ansprechend, oder luden zum Verweilen ein.
Ein großer, sehr heller Raum, Tische und Stühle stand eng beisammen und es herrschte ein Geräuschpegel wie auf einem Bahnhof.
Ich kannte landestypische asiatische Restaurants aus Hong Kong und dieses erinnerte mich sehr daran.
Schnell wurden ein paar Stuhle von den Angestellten zusammen gesammelt und um den Tisch, der direkt am Eingang war, platziert. Fertig! Nun kann es losgehen.
Gemütlich, weil sehr eng, sassen wir um den Tisch herum.
Die Speisekarte war recht umfangreich und bestand zu einem großen Teil aus frittierten Sachen. Fisch, Fleisch, Tofu alles schien irgendwie frittiert zu sein.
Ich tat mich in der Auswahl meiner Speise etwas schwer und wählte letzt endlich eine Suppe mit Rindfleisch, Tofu und Gemüse.
Das Saigon Bier, was zwischenzeitlich kam, war wirklich gut und angenehm vom Geschmack. Eindeutige Trink-​Empfehlung. :-)
Relativ zügig kamen erst die Vorspeise, die wir kollektiv zum Probieren gewählt hatten, und dann auch schon die Hauptspeise. Die Vorspeisen waren ganz gut. Kleine Gemüseröllchen mit Dip in verschiedenen Ausführungen.
Meine Suppe war wirklich groß. In ihr schwamm viel Grünes, Fleisch und Tofu.
Ziemlich heiß war sie und so musste ich noch einen Augenblick warten, bis ich zum Testen kam.
Naja, was soll ich sagen?! Es war eine Suppe mit Gemüse, Rindfleisch und Tofu.
Die Suppe an sich hatte kaum Eigengeschmack, außer das sie etwas schärfer war. Das Gemüse war bissfest und trug ebenfalls kaum zum Geschmack bei. Das Fleisch war da und begleitete das Tofu in seiner Anwesenheit.
Ich hatte mir wirklich mehr versprochen. Schade.
Meine Begleitungen waren mir ihren frittierten Speisen zufriedener als ich es war. Vielleicht lag es wirklich am Frittierten und dem Fett als Geschmacksträger? Ich weiß es nicht.
Vielleicht hatte ich auch nur Pech mit meiner Wahl, oder die anderen einfach nur Glück. Ich werde es glaube ich nie erfahren! :-)

I wish there were more restaurants like Song Que in London. It’s close to a station (Hoxton Overground), and serves authentic food at an affordable price.
This is a no frills, no fuss kind of eatery, and wouldn’t look out of place if you plopped it in the middle of Southeast Asia. The walls are painted a horrific bright green and someone took things to the next level by gluing on giant ceramic lobsters, but that’s what I love about Song Que. It’s not trying to fit in and the food is pretty gosh darn good too.
Song Que’s phở is solid, but my favourite dish is their #60, which consists of grilled and shredded pork, and spring rolls on top of rice vermicelli. It’s crispy, it’s crunchy. It’s salty and sweets. It’s downright delicious. The best part? This big ol’ bowl of food will set you back less than a tenner.
If you come to Song Que expecting British-​style service and fine dining, you’re going to be disappointed. That’s not what this restaurant is about. Come here for quick, cheap, and tasty Vietnamese food and you’ll walk away satisfied.

Also dafür, dass der Laden mal einer der Top-​Vietnamesen in London war, gehen die ganz schön rabiat mit ihren Kunden um. Erst wartet man ewig, dass man bestellen kann, dann knallt die Bedienung die Teller auf meine Karte, die ich gerade lese, dann bringt man mir das falsche Essen, dass man mir dann vor der Nase wieder wegzieht. Alter Falter.

It’s hard to find good Asian food in London, and there’s a lot of mediocre and overpriced Vietnamese places here served by non-​Asian waiters.
So when I came here with a friend I was happy to see that it was a restaurant with Asian waiters, and full of customers of different ethnicities. It was super packed for a weekday evening, but we got seated pretty quickly and the food was also fast.
I loved how the phở came in a huge bowl (the true way of serving phở) and brimming with soup and spring onions, and my friend who is a vegetarian was really happy with her fried rice and vegetables. Vietnamese anywhere else in the world is known to be inexpensive, so for the price we wish we got more but the food was good enough for us to be happy.

Ce restaurant se trouve dans le quartier vietnamien et vous avez un choix pléthorique quant au lieu où manger.
Song Que fait partie des restaurant apparemment connu et complétement plein (il est nécessaire de faire la queue quelques minutes avant de pouvoir entrer) et les raisons d’un tel succès sont plus ou moins bonnes.
D’un point de vue ambiance et atmosphère, nous sommes dans une cantine bruyante et sans aucun charme, mais sincèrement c’est pas pour cette raison que nous sommes entrés mais seulement pour manger un bon vietnamien.
C’est là que ça coince un peu, ce n’est pas mauvais mais ça né vaut pas plus de 3 étoiles Qype. Nous avons pris une entrée variée (nems, fritures, algues,) pour 3 et la qualité était très hétérogèné (de très bon à franchement limite).
Concernant mon plat (poulet et aubergine, accompagné de riz), c’était fade et sans intérêt.
Service expéditif.
Je conseillerais donc aux personnes désireuses de manger dans le quartier de tester un autre restaurant.