Chigwell, Vietnamese Restaurant Guide

2023 Review: This quartet of family-run restaurants have won a big reputation for their southwest Vietnamese dishes, including pho and their famed goat with galangal. They started out 15 years ago in Shoreditch before heading across the river to Battersea.

“Amongst the many restaurants in Little Vietnam” this “friendly if slightly chaotic” institution is a treasured mainstay thanks to its “very tasty, home-style cooking” with “plenty of choice”.

2023 Review: This quartet of family-run restaurants have won a big reputation for their southwest Vietnamese dishes, including pho and their famed goat with galangal. They started out 15 years ago in Shoreditch before heading across the river to Battersea.

2024 Review: “Thoughtful” Vietnamese food is served at “fabulous prices for the generous portions” at this duo in Soho and Hoxton from Hieu Trung Bui, who has done much to popularise pho and other southeast Asian dishes in London over more than 20 years. That “plenty of Asian people eat there too” speaks for its “authentic” style.

2024 Review: “I couldn’t love it more”, say regulars of this Islington Vietnamese – “a family-run and family-oriented original, with reliable and delicious food”.

2024 Review: “Thoughtful” Vietnamese food is served at “fabulous prices for the generous portions” at this duo in Soho and Hoxton from Hieu Trung Bui, who has done much to popularise pho and other southeast Asian dishes in London over more than 20 years. That “plenty of Asian people eat there too” speaks for its “authentic” style.

“Imaginative” and “super-tasty Vietnamese food” – “served promptly” and “at reasonable prices” – packs the house at this casual, street-food joint on the edge of Chinatown from ex-Hakkasan chef Jeff Tan, decked out with lots of bare brick and wood finishes. (It has a smarter sister restaurant, Go-Viet in South Kensington.)

2022 Review: The Nguyen family run this duo of no-nonsense Vietnamese cafés in Peckham Rye and Brixton – well-rated all-round for their tasty scoff: soups, salads, rolls and other simple dishes.

2022 Review: The Nguyen family run this duo of no-nonsense Vietnamese cafés in Peckham Rye and Brixton – well-rated all-round for their tasty scoff: soups, salads, rolls and other simple dishes.

The “simple but tasty Vietnamese food in a relaxed atmosphere” at ex-Hakkasan chef Jeff Tan’s South Kensington venue is “all you really want in a local Asian restaurant” (and rather different from his street-food outfit Viet Food in Chinatown).

“A delightful cheap ’n’ cheerful option in the middle of the gilded streets of Chelsea”: this Vietnamese street-food operation occupies part of a cute courtyard development just off the King’s Road and you can pig out relatively cheaply on the “formidable laksa and rice dishes”. ‘Colourful ‘Phat Phuc’ t-shirts and caps are available to purchase’ from the stall: the name, of course, means ‘Happy Buddha’.

2023 Review: This quartet of family-run restaurants have won a big reputation for their southwest Vietnamese dishes, including pho and their famed goat with galangal. They started out 15 years ago in Shoreditch before heading across the river to Battersea.

“Come hungry” if you visit this year-old kitchen on bustling Upper Street in Islington, acclaimed for its “inventive, tasty food in unusually large portions”. “The door can let the cold air in, but the food is good enough to offset all of that”. (The Observer’s Jay Rayner is also a fan: in his January 2025 review he lauded the fresh and punchy dishes – “The next morning, I will be told by my loved ones that my breath is distinctly ‘savoury’. I wear this as a badge of honour.”)

“Brilliant Vietnamese grub… every bit as good as any food you’d get back in HCMC” makes it worth discovering this family-run, roadside ‘bar-b-grill’ in the boonies of Deptford. Alongside pho, noodle dishes and báhn mì, there are specials including BBQ quail and sea bream. (The family also runs ‘Eat Vietnam 2’ a few doors away at 244 Evelyn Street.)

This basic Vietnamese outfit on Deptford High Street has long earned a reputation as a “local gem” – and remains a good bet for a freshly cooked cheap’n’cheeful meal following renovations.