LDNReview
photo credit: Karolina Wiercigroch
Sông Quê
Included In
There are some things in London that you hope will never change.
Our buses should never be anything other than pillarbox red. We’d prefer Soho to remain a bit dingy and to keep its edge - not become a theme park for tourists and branches of Leon. And we definitely want future generations to appreciate the fact that sitting at the front of the DLR is the greatest experience you can have inside the M25.
To that short but important list, we’ll add the Vietnamese restaurant Sông Quê Cafe. It’s the best spot on the Kingsland Road’s ‘pho mile’, a few hundred metres of road in Shoreditch jammed door-to-door with Vietnamese cafes, supermarkets, and restaurants. That’s enough to automatically make it one of the best Vietnamese restaurants in London. But it’s also more than that, because it serves some of the best Vietnamese food we’ve eaten outside of Vietnam.
If you’re part of the 90% that comes here to eat pho, know that it’ll be comforting, satisfying, and incredibly good. The noodles are always perfectly firm, and the bright, herby broth is super flavourful, whether you go for the beef, chicken, or tofu version. The starters are excellent too, and you should definitely extend your order to include the deep-fried squid, soft-shell crab, cha la lot (minced pork wrapped in betel leaf) and grilled quail.
photo credit: Karolina Wiercigroch
It’s also worth noting that while the quality at Song Que is stellar, the consistency is pretty damn impressive too. We’ve been coming here for almost 15 years, and each meal has been as good, if not better, than the last. After eating a mediocre meal at a new spot, we often find ourselves wondering why we didn’t just come here instead.
Sông Quê works for any situation. Lunchtime is perfect for grabbing a bowl of pho, but the restaurant is also great for a big knees-ups at the weekend. Your parents will love it, your flatmate who only eats beans on toast will enjoy it, and if you bring a date here and they don’t like the pho, you might want to consider breaking up with them. Even if Soho turns into Disneyland and they get humans to start driving the DLR, we’ll keep coming to Sông Quê.
Food Rundown
Vietnamese Drip Coffee
photo credit: Karolina Wiercigroch
Crispy Chilli Squid
Crispy Soft Shell Crab
photo credit: Karolina Wiercigroch
Grilled Quail
photo credit: Karolina Wiercigroch
Cha La Lot
photo credit: Karolina Wiercigroch
Banh Xeo
photo credit: Karolina Wiercigroch
Pho
photo credit: Karolina Wiercigroch