• Tre Viet

    Budget choice
  • This veteran café does a brisk trade every night, when Vietnamese families and office workers (many bringing their own alcohol) squeeze into the tables for a feast. The menu seems endless, with all the vital Vietnamese classics alongside such rarities as goat in lemongrass and chilli. We sampled the canh chua ca bong lau, a sweet and sour catfish soup that came chock-full of juicy morsels of fish and pineapple, flavoured with zingy tamarind and the rarely seen bac ha (taro stem), a spongy South-east Asian vegetable. Less authentic and enjoyable was a bland mien xao thom thit (rice vermicelli stir-fried with prawns and pork). Fried frogs’ legs are usually a wise choice, but on this occasion the otherwise crisp batter was let down by an overpowering flavour of butter – still, we enjoyed the simplicity of the accompanying onions and Vietnamese coriander. Tre Viet excels in using rare and interesting ingredients, though which dishes include them isn’t always apparent; your choice of food can make the difference between an extraordinary and a merely average dining experience.

  • Time Out Eating & Drinking Guide 2009

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  1. Posted by Trudi + Lewin on 24 Oct 2008 19:54

    We love it here. Fresh herbs and stuff. Very nice. Friendly staff. Good wholesome, well priced eats. Deep fried salt and pepper Squid our fav'.

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  • Details

  • 251 Mare Street, Hackney, E8 3NS
  • Area: Hackney
  • Tel: 020 8533 7390
  • Category: Vietnamese
  • Travel: Hackney Central rail/26, 48, 55, 253, 277, D6 bus
  • Times: Meals served 11.30am-11pm Mon-Thur, Sun; 11.30am-11.30pm Fri, Sat
  • Price: Main courses £4.70-£13. Unlicensed. Corkage no charge
  • Credit cards: MC, V
  • Licenced: unlicensed
  • Map

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