First visit
How to order like you have been before
Five words to say, one sauce to understand, and a map of a country in three lines. Nobody minds if you point. This is for those who would rather not.
4 min
Say it near enough
Vietnamese is tonal, and the marks over the letters change the meaning. Nobody at the counter will correct you. But a close attempt is appreciated, and the sounds are simpler than they look. The strip alongside gets you through the menu.
What the coffee words mean
The drinks board is built from a few pieces. Cà phê is coffee. Đen is black. Sữa is milk, which in Vietnamese coffee almost always means sweetened condensed milk. Đá is ice; nóng is hot. So cà phê sữa đá is coffee, condensed milk, ice, and cà phê đen nóng is hot black coffee. Once you have those four words you can read the whole column.
The nước mắm question
Fish sauce alarms people until they taste it. Nước mắm is made by layering anchovies with sea salt in wooden vats and leaving them for around a year. What drains out is amber, clear and deeply savoury, closer to a good soy or parmesan than to anything fishy. On its own it is a seasoning. Mixed with lime, sugar, water, garlic and chilli it becomes nước chấm, the dipping sauce that lands with most of the small plates. The glaze on our chicken wings is the same idea, reduced until it clings.
Sharing, and how much
Vietnamese food is meant for the middle of the table. A good pattern for two is one or two small plates to start, then a bowl or a house plate each. Gỏi cuốn, the fresh rice-paper rolls, and chả nem, the fried spring rolls, are the easy openers. A phở bò is a full meal on its own; bún bò Huế more so. If you are unsure, ask. The kitchen would rather guide you than see a plate go back full.
North, centre, south
Vietnam is a long, thin country and it eats in three registers. The north, around Hà Nội, is the most restrained: clear broths, less sugar, black pepper over chilli, and dishes like phở and bún chả. The centre, around the old capital Huế, is the most fiery and the most refined at once, with lemongrass, shrimp paste and chilli oil; bún bò Huế is its flagship. The south, around Sài Gòn and the Mekong Delta, is sweeter and greener, with more herbs, more coconut and more sugar in the pot. Our menu draws from all three, which is why a Hà Nội pork patty and a Hội An chicken salad can sit on the same board.
On the boards
- Goi Cuon£ 8.45
Fresh rolls. The friendliest way to start.
- Canh Ga Nuoc Mam£ 6.95
Wings in a fish-sauce glaze. The nước mắm argument, settled.
- Thit Nuong & Cha Hanoi£ 15.45
The north's favourite plate.