VietCafe

Had a wonderful meal here with a friend — I was a complete Vietnamese food virgin, and he regularly eats at a Vietnamese friend’s family home, so we were on completely different ends of the judging spectrum, but both enjoyed it tremendously. I had a beef phở, which was very tasty, if a little lacking in spice (I stirred in extra chilli sauce!) and I was disappointed to find that I didn’t get raw beansprouts in the soup as is apparently traditional — it turns out, if you want the beansprouts, you have to ask because not everyone is keen. But it was yummy nonetheless. My friend had crispy pork with egg-​fried rice and said it was very tasty. Oh, and the Vietnamese lemonade was DELICIOUS! I have no idea if it’s authentic or not, but I frankly don’t care when it tastes that good!
The restaurant itself was a cute size, the meal was incredibly cheap — with my Tastecard, the bill for both of us including service was just under £20, which is a bargain in central London — and the staff were absolutely lovely, even humouring our awful attempts at pronouncing the names of the dishes with a smile. I’d give the place 4.5 stars if I could, but I have been thwarted by Unilocal yet again! But rest assured this is a high 4 star, and I will be back — this time, for beansprouts!

What a disappointment the Viet Café is. The starters were promptly delivered but were very small portions. The Vietnamese spring rolls were tasty but for the £6 price tag should have been much bigger. The same with the Nom Du Du Tom again a tasty salad but so overpriced for what you get.
I had the grilled pork on fried rice for main course but I was not keen on the taste of the grilled pork. I am sorry but I won’t be going back.

Just to clarify my rating: starter 4; main course — Com 3, Phở 2; service 4, portion 2, value for money 2.
After a relaxing Saturday, we went to VietCafe for Vietnamese. Nem Ga Tom (Chicken & Prawn Spring Rolls) was tasty but had only two tiny pieces. It tasted strongly of white pepper and would be nice if they came with some mint and coriander. They were not a good value for £6. Nom Du Du Tom (Papaya & Prawn Salad) was refreshing and full of flavour, but again the portion was very small for £7 and they forgot to put crushed peanuts. Com Rang Cha Nuong (Char-​grilled Pork with Fired Rice) had nicely-​grilled pork but the Fried Rice was very salty and the portion was small. Phở Xao Hai San (Stir-​fried Seafood Phở) was shockingly sweet and salty, and did not have nice flavour or taste at all. It did have fresh prawn, squid and vegetables, but they were wasted in the flavourless sauce. There weren’t enough noodle, either; they cannot justify the price (£12). Everything we ate was salty, and after the meal I ended up drinking a large bottle of mineral water.
The place was clean, and the service was friendly and efficient. The starter was tasty but the portion was small. Shame about the main courses.

One of my friends had a Tastecard expiring at the end of March, so we decided to make the most of it and make a booking with it before going to the theatre on Friday evening. The staff only let us book a table for four people on one Tastecard, and even though we had people with two other Tastecards, they insisted that the second booking would have to be at a separate table, and could not even be near the first one. I thought this was a bit unnecessary. When our party of 6 suddenly became 5 people due to a last minute drop out, we ended up just all squeezing in a booth and ordering 4 main courses, which was permitted under their unwritten rules. We were also not allowed to order their dinner combo of 2 courses for £14, but our Tastecard deal gave us 50% off both food and drinks.
As for the food, I got lemongrass chicken with vermicelli, and one of my friends ordered phở, and another a seafood stir fry. I thought my dish was pretty authentic and it was a decent dinner. It wasn’t particularly amazing or anything, but it was good and for a central London location, with the deal, also good value. The mojitos we ordered were mediocre… I think mine hardly had any alcohol, and the glass was mostly full of ice. They had a 2 for 1 deal on them, but since we had the Tastecard that didn’t apply. I don’t really think you need the Tastecard if you manage to be there for any of these deals. Busaba Thai is right next door and also has pre theatre specials, and I’ve heard good things about that restaurant so I would be keen to try them in the future.

Wow, what a discrepancy in reviews!
I wandered in here on a rainy winter’s evening. We shared the veggie nems which were crunchy and tasty although a lot crisper than what I had had other places.
I had the beef phở. It was good although not the best phở I had ever had. Broth was decent and there were some very thin slices of beef in the soup.
Would I go back? Probably not. There are better places in London and the menu is quite limited.

Visited with a large group on a Friday night (already third time). Great atmosphere with nice music and very good cocktails. Not a particularly extensive menu but what we had was excellent. Also very good experienced service. Definitely coming back for more!

Terrible place! Horrible service! Horrible food! People in the kitchen fighting and screaming super loud. Please never lose your money in this dump!!! ½ star ! Bad allllll!!!