Vynam — Restaurant in London

Very recent discovery after friends recommended it. We hardly ever go to Finchley Central these days, so we didn't even know the restaurant existed until our friends told us about it.

Location is within 5 minutes' walk from Finchley Central Underground station. Parking facilities nearby are hotly-contested by residents and visitors, and can be awkward as Barnet Council has been cutting down on the available bays by sticking those awful wooden planters in them.

This is a simple, plain premises which can seat about 30 to 40 diners at a time. We went in the evening, and the place was economically-lit inside, which works quite well.

The only downside of the location is that Regents Park Road suffers from the evening activities of drivers who favour antisocially loud "pop/bang" exhausts, sadly another manifestation of this country's increasingly feral society. This is not the restaurant's fault, and they have to suffer it as much as their diners.

Vy Nam appears to be a family-run business. Service was attentive and very helpful.

We ordered quite simple noodle dishes plus prawn summer rolls. Not only were these all delicious, but they were served incredibly quickly (well inside 7 minutes) after ordering - I don't think we've ever been served as fast as that by any restaurant anywhere for a proper meal prepared and cooked from scratch, and that covered all of the noodle dishes including a spicy soup noodle (Bún Hué)

Our dinner for three including a pot of jasmine tea came to a shade under £38. Decent value. Apparently they have a takeaway delivery service as well, so it looks like we'll be having a go at that...

Around 7 years ago, I used to come here at least once a month and it was my favourite Vietnamese restaurant. The food was great and the restaurant was full on most days. I remember always needing to reserve a table to avoid disappointment.

Unfortunately, I visited this restaurant again last week and I'm saddened to say that I will not be coming back. The place has clearly had a change of management since I last visited. The food tasted bland and not authentic, and their portions are a lot smaller than they used to be. I ordered a selection of my favourite Vietnamese dishes but was very disappointed. The dishes didn't even have the usual herbs and cucumber which I would expect and the spring rolls were almost empty inside. The only herb used was mint, not even any coriander, and the nuoc cham tasted weak and watered down. The vermicelli noodles in my bun cha gio dish were overcooked and hadn't been properly drained so they just tasted mushy and watery.

The food was not inedible and I didn't get sick from eating here but I wouldn't recommend coming here if you want to experience authentic...

​ (used my husband's google account) So, my husband and I went to try this restaurant as we moved in the area not long ago. An over 40 Vietnamese man gave us the table, he wasn’t smiley at all, kind of a grumpy man! We have ordered lychee juice and coconut juice to drink, apparently the same man run to the off licence shop to buy one of the drink as we watched! We have ordered 2 main meals and a starter. The food was delicious, specially the fried squid! The tempura was made beautifully. My husband is a chef in a high end restaurant, so while that man was clearing our table he told him how tasty was the squid tempura and he kindly said pls tell the chef it was delicious! The old man didn’t even smile or seemed appreciated, he only said Ok! And just cleared the table then walked off. Honestly I’d say only the food gives the restaurant a good score clearly not the staff! I think we will go there again but won’t expect a nice...