Viet Fusion — Restaurant in London

Really good food, flavoursome with decent sized portions.

Starters were great and there was clearly attention to detail, down to the dressing that came with the garnish on the soft shell crab which was really tasty. We also had the chicken wings which my daughter loved.

We tried the pho and the bun for mains. Both were decent sized portions and they didn't skimp on the meat. Some places you can go to give you an awful lot of soup and not much else, but not here. Plenty of noodles and meat, meant you weren't craving too much more after. I went with people who can cook their own pho and even they were impressed.

The drinks were authentic and refreshing and we tried the home made iced tea and the Vietnamese coffee, both of which are made fresh and both worth the small wait. The attention to detail extends to the waiter not piling the coffees with ice, but supplying a separate glass of ice so as to not dilute the taste if the ice all melted.

The service itself was great, prompt, attentive and friendly.

Would definitely recommend...

I’d describe this place which in the past has been good as half hearted. The staff are now totally without any pretence of charm, no attempt at a smile and zero interaction. That’s fine if your idea of eating out is being served by a robot but it’s not my idea of fun. The food is average and at time verging on cynical. Two bits of chicken welded to a skewer with a couple of tea spoons of bucket ready satay sauce? That’s a fiver. Home made lemonade? Maybe they added the water to a squash bottle mix. That’s three quid please. Main courses were ok,even exciting a year or so ago, now they are average at best, the ingredients seem to be strangers to each other in a bowl. The menus look like a health hazard and the door never shuts properly, fine in the summer but there’s an icy blast from the high road in the winter. They don’t take cards, only cash. Hmm. I suppose that’s the point really. Do the absolute bare minimum and take the cash from the punter as quickly as possible. I wouldn’t bother...

Was offered prawn crackers and water as soon as we came in.

Was amazed by the variety of dishes and the waitress had a lot of patience and came to the table when we were ready to order.

We ordered prawn summer rolls, prawn friend wontons, Charsiu bun, chicken hue-spicy noodle soup and Bún Cá Chiên - Deep friend battered pangasius fish served on vermicelli noodles.

The starters came out super fast and the fried shrimp wontons were piping hot, the summer rolls were fresh and the charsiu bun was piping hot all the way through and flavourful.

I had the chicken hue-spicy noodle, had a strong enough kick to the broth, generous with the chicken strips in the soup and was provided a small tray with the lime, sliced red chilli, bean sprouts and coriander which were all added. The whole dish mixed was full of depth and flavour and the temperature of the dish was fresh and hot.

Would...