Mien Tay Shoreditch: tasty, fresh and friendly

Spring rolls (Chả giò).

Vietnamese food is wonderful, and a good place to find this cuisine in the UK is Kingsland Road in Shoreditch, London, where Vietnamese restaurants dominate the street.  (If you're unsure, check out my 'picture special' post from Vietnam for lots of tasty food photos ^_^).

Traditional Crispy Pancake with Tofu, Onions & Beansprout (Bánh xèo chay).

With so much competition, it can be a little overwhelming to pick the right restaurant.  I followed my instinct and went for a busy one - Mien Tay - and busy it certainly was!  With very simple décor, the diners were certainly not there for the views, but clearly the food - always the right way round in my opinion.

Char-grilled minced beef in wild betel leaves (Bò lá lốt).  

The restaurant specialises in food from the south west of Vietnam.  From looking at the menu, they are keen to show their 'home-style' nature by introducing owners Mr Su Tran and Mrs My Le along with a picture (presumably them), as well as proudly displaying their many positive reviews from +Time Out London , +ViewLondon , +Metro , +London Evening Standard , +The Times and The Sunday Times and Cheese and Biscuits Blog.

Rice Vermicelli with Spring Roll & Grilled Pork (Bún chả giò thịt nướng). 

I can certainly see why the restaurant has its fans.  The food felt fresh, my friends and I enjoyed our dishes, staff are courteous with a smile and the atmosphere is busy yet friendly and relaxed.  All in all, it felt like a great place for friends to meet up over a tasty and good-value meal.

Stir-fried rice noodles with beef.

So if you're around Kingsland Road and looking for some Vietnamese food, put Mien Tay on your consideration list.

Nearest Overground: Hoxton

Picture special: the wonderful food of Vietnam

Vietnamese food is fresh, fun, varied, generally healthy and full of flavours.

Last year, I was lucky enough to visit Vietnam for the first time - home to one of the greatest cuisines, in my opinion. I was mainly in Ho Chi Minh City, but also visited Hue, Da Nang and Hoi An. It's a great holiday destination with plenty to see and lots of things to eat, so I really do recommend it as a place to visit. Just be careful of the humidity - it's really something!

Whether you like noodles, rice, meat, vegetables, exotic fruits, and even baguettes, you'll generally find something you'll enjoy eating in Vietnam.

I'll keep the words brief, just feast your eyes on the food :-). I hope you enjoy the pictures, and please keep scrolling to see a rather strange scorpion at the end...

Banh hoi.

Mangosteen.

Rambutan.

Rice with steamed egg loaf.

Aubergine with fish sauce.

Banh xeo.

Spring rolls.

Left: flat rice noodles with meat. Right: a type of pork summer roll.

Part of a nine-course meal!

Another part of the nine-course meal!

Still part of the aforementioned nine-course meal. Glutinous rice.

Breakfast.

Pho noodle soup for breakfast.

Selection of pork, spring rolls, salad, king prawns.

Grilled pork.

Chinese dim sum.

Steamed buns.

Roast pigeon.

Steamed fish.

Noodle soup with kidney and king prawns.

Noodle soup with king prawns and pork.