Restaurants

With Londons largest Vietnamese community residing in the area, and quality fresh foods sold in Vietnamese supermarkets around the corner, its no wonder that Tre Viet serves some of the most authentic Vietnamese food in town to an appreciative mixed crowd of families and urban Hackneyites. We tried many dishes and none failed to impress. The fiery noodle soup, bun bo hue, is served with the herb purple perilla on the side. Floating in the soup were various tender sliced meats, including cha lua sausages, with a consistency like frankfurters. Raw rau muong (morning glory) was a sweet and sour crunchy salad sprinkled with salty balls of dried, shredded meat and sharp-tasting fragments of mint. The frogs legs had a saline crust and were served with onions and fried stems of rau ram (Vietnamese coriander), which gave the soft meat a subtle aromatic note. Mekong fish, braised with a thick, sweet soy sauce, arrived in a clay pot and rounded off the meal nicely. The rare ingredients at Tre Viet (fresh herbs, meats and vegetables) make it a must for anyone looking for authentic Vietnamese cuisine.

Time Out Eating & Drinking Guide 2008