Namo

I have been coming regularly to this restaurant for four years and it has been excellent until the last couple of years when it seems to have been taken over by new management and the food and service has gone to pot. Avoid it. I will be from now on.

I came online tonight to write a review of Hop Namo, their other "restaurant", based in Shoreditch Boxpark and thankfully has now closed. I'll write a review of it anyway 'cos the food is probably just as crap at Namo. When it was still opened, my friend and I went there for lunch. They picked a bad location as Boxpark is more known for fashion than food. The waiting staffs were 2 East European girls and the 2 chefs were Indian, very Vietnamese for a Vietnamese eatery. The food took forever to arrive and it was so disgusting we almost threw up. We ordered baguettes to start and it came cut in half served on a plate like the spring rolls, bad idea. Then we ordered Bun Bo Hue and they used pho (flat noodle) instead of bun (round noodle), sacrilege. We couldn't even finish it and went to Kêu down the road to start our lunch again. This time we had proper authentic Vietnamese food cooked by professional chefs who knew what they were doing. The amateurs and unskilled people who run Namo, Hop Namo and Huong Viet got caught up in the Vietnamese food craze and thought they have a go at ripping us off. These people shouldn't be let loose in their own kitchen at home let alone one in a restaurant. Don't waste your money with them. There are many other fine Vietnamese eateries on The Pho Mile in Kingsland. I forgot about the name. It's blasphemous. The owners are Catholic and it's not even a vegetarian restaurant so why use a Buddhist praying term to name a restaurant. What clever twit came up with that one?

Had a great meal here a couple of Sunday's ago, the Ca kho fish dish was delicious.

Crap. Walk up to Mare street and go to a vienamese there!

Loved our meal at Namos last night. From the start the welcome was warm and friendly and the service was excellent. Everything arrived quickly despite the fact the the restaurant was completely full but the best thing was the meal which was quite delicious. We had three starters ( chargrilled squid, a whole shelled crab and tempura vegetables) and four main dishes with wine to drink for £20 each. I can't wait to go again!

Great food, lovely outdoor area, service could've been a bit better.

It's a real shame, after enjoying an excellent meal at Namo last year we were crushingly disappointed by our recent experience. I'm not sure if it's a case of two few waiting staff or chronic restaurant mismanagement but the service was definitely poor. After being seated it was a long wait to order and we were still waiting for starters an hour later despite other restaurant goers shuttling through there meals. We were missing half of our necessary cutlery/plates/bowls which we had to go and get from the service station ourselves after non action by waiting staff. I don't think I've every been to a restaurant where if you want anything you have to physically get up to find the staff rather than the standard raised eyebrow or small wave. The staff were pleasant and apologetic about the lateness of our starters yet this gesture seemed empty as our mains took just as long. The food was fine but certainly no better than many other local and significantly cheaper alternatives.

I agree with the poster that said Namo is style over substance. They've marketed themselves well, and the restaurant looks nice, but I would not consider this proper vietnamese food. If you're new to the cuisine, you may not notice a difference in which case you'll have an alright meal. I'm confused why some people were saying this was a good Thai/Vietnamese place (it's only vietnamese as far as i'm aware, not a fusion). I had the chicken pho which was downright appalling. The noodles were clumped together in the luke warm soup, and they didn't separate. The stock was salty and quite frankly just tasted weird. The pork ribs and the spring rolls were also sub par, the latter being fat oversized and not really tasting as they should. If you know of and like Vietnamese cuisine, I would completely give this a miss and try the other local alternatives around Hackney, Dalston and Shoreditch.

Just had an amazing dinner here, highly recommended (and there was no service change added to the bill, it was left for us to decided how much to leave).

Really good Vietnamese for East London standards. The menu is less varied than others in Shoreditch but definitely more refined. The setting is relaxed and romantic in tone. Food was super late though, about an hour for mains to come out and we had to chase it up with our waitress. Otherwise an enjoyable evening. The monkfish was divine!