Sông Quê Phở Bar, London E1: ‘the Best Phở In Town’ – Restaurant Review | Grace Dent On Restaurants

Some basking eating spots look to grow almost nan infinitesimal they open, but eastbound London’s Vietnamese stalwart Sông Quê has waited almost 25 years to spawn a small sister, Sông Quê Phở Bar. The caller offshoot sits connected Commercial Street, a mile aliases truthful down nan road, and serves a mini paper focusing connected phở, arsenic good arsenic a smattering of nan original cafe’s mini plates successful nan shape of summertime rolls, greenish papaya salad, grilled lamb chops and savoury banh khot cupcakes.

Quite why Sông Quê, pinch its regular play queues and well-known name, took truthful agelong to branch out, however, is unknown. Still, why unreserved things? After all, nan roadworthy to edifice ruin is paved pinch premature marque roll-outs, and moreover if managers deliberation they’re superhuman, they cannot beryllium successful 2 – aliases 3 aliases 4 – sites each astatine nan aforesaid time. Plus, nan large mobility pinch an institution specified arsenic nan OG Sông Quê is: tin you really recreate nan magic elsewhere?

‘Loads of caller herbs’: Sông Quê Phở Bar’s grilled lemongrass prawn bun bowl.

The caller phở barroom has appeared successful what astatine a glimpse seems a beautiful bully location, almost straight other nan much-adored (not slightest by me) Xian Biang Biang Noodles (go for nan loop noodles, I implore you), and adjacent to nan beloved Thai hotspot Som Saa. It’s besides conscionable down nan roadworthy from location called Slurp Thai, but nan little said astir that name, nan better.

But is it a bully location? The Spitalfields margins, successful that sort-of-Aldgate and close-to-Shoreditch area, tin beryllium curiously difficult to lure passing waste and acquisition into, so, if I’m honest, I’m really not truthful sure. Lauded food cook Tom Brown opened The Pearly Queen connected this very tract only a mates of years ago, and that vanished beautiful rapidly, and earlier that it was a Turkish spot called The Space, which made nary effect connected nan London eating segment astatine all.

Sông Quê Phở Bar’s beef successful betel leaves: ‘This spot does not skimp connected its garnishes.’

One Sunday earlier this month, it was besides a spot of a interest to find ourselves nan only customers astatine nan caller phở bar. Beforehand, I’d worried astir not having booked a table, only to find we had nan prime of nan full restaurant, and connected some floors, too. Still, nan unit were agleam and chipper, and young capable to show me, successful tones that suggested they were talking astir medieval times, that nan original Sông Quê opened successful 2002; they besides seemed genuinely amazed that we had moving stoves and energy measurement backmost then. The caller place, however, feels much for illustration a canteen that’s location to do 1 occupation well: popular by for a vessel of their beef broth noodle crockery topped pinch a prime of beef, beef balls, chicken, prawns aliases tofu.

My uncommon beef flank phở came thinly sliced, blushingly pinkish and generously served atop a vessel of thin, al dente noodles and a fistful of chopped outpouring onion, and each of it drowned successful a very meaningful broth. Star anise is simply a sparkling ray successful this rich, sweet, warmly spiced soup. They besides do their celebrated bun bo hue, which is somewhat different from nan phở successful that it features good done beef flank and pork sausage, aliases spicy prawns aliases tofu, and is served pinch loads of caller herbs. And if nan thought of crockery noodles leaves you cold, there’s besides a grilled lemongrass chickenhearted and vermicelli crockery pinch gloriously fiery chickenhearted thigh.

Sông Quê Phở Bar’s phở comes ‘in a very meaningful broth’.

Those mini plates shouldn’t beryllium ignored, either, truthful we didn’t. We galloped done grilled beef wrapped successful betel leaves, scattered pinch handfuls of chunky peanuts, dressed pinch a semi-hedgerow of caller mint and dunked successful a hot, saccharine dipping sauce. This spot does not skimp connected its garnishes. We moved connected to small juicy bullets of spicy tempura squid flanked by earthy chilli, and a serving of those grilled lamb chops that look for illustration thing overmuch but that person a genuinely gorgeous char and travel pinch an oddly unobtrusive, vinegar-based dipping condiment that has conscionable nan correct magnitude of sharpness to transportation nan heft of nan meat.

It was astatine this constituent successful nan repast – astir about nan clip I was devouring those tiny small prawn cupcakes that are successful truth small much than ovum and cornflour moulded into small baskets, but that are jolly bully erstwhile dipped successful thing spicy and saccharine – that I began to think: “Where nan hellhole is everyone?” This is simply a jolly useful small spot, and there’s nary measurement it tin past connected midweek agency workers unsocial while losing retired astatine weekends to nan likes of Slurp Thai simply because that’s a fewer blocks person to Shoreditch’s main drag.

This is 1 of those places wherever I say: usage it aliases suffer it. Right now, they person seats going, truthful return a friend, aliases a book, and settee down to nan champion phở successful town. What’s more, if you’re antisocial and for illustration Vietnamese treats, well, correct now, Sông Quê will consciousness for illustration heaven.

• Sông Quê Phở Bar 44 Commercial Street, London E1, 020-4585 0341. Open each week, 11.30am-9.30pm. From astir £25 a head, positive drinks & service