Song Que, Shoreditch

Walking along Shoreditch High Street, you'll pass many Vietnamese restaurants. Some are dressed up to look classy, others are just outright shabby, but what they all share in common is the lack of customers. This was what we saw on our way to meet up with Irene's friend for lunch earlier in the year.

Seeing the depressing scene of empty Vietnamese restaurants, we wondered whether the one we were heading to was just as depressing. Fortunately for us (and not one bit surprising given the reviews we read), Song Que was far from depressing. Its simple and bright interior gave it the Vietnamese restaurant feel that we are used to from Sydney. And the large number of diners gave us the reassurance that this place probably does have something to offer!

Shortly after Irene's friend arrived, we made our orders. We each ordered a beef noodle soup of varying varieties, a bean sprout omelette thing to share, and a Vietnamese coffee each. This was the first time we had the bean sprout omelette thing and I must say, it was delicious. The omelette was crunchy and went really well with the equally crunchy bean sprouts. The occasional bits of seafood then served well to add some variety and texture to the taste.


The beef noodle soup, a must have in all Vietnamese restaurants, was quite good. Compared to Cafe East, the only other Vietnamese restaurant that we've been to in London, the beef in the beef noodle soup at Song Que is better but Cafe East wins in terms of the soup base.


Straight after we finished our food, the waiter immediately gave us our bill, which was a hint that they want our table back. This didn't come as much of a surprise as we read about similar experiences in reviews of the restaurant; I guess this is a testament of the restaurant's popularity.

Despite the robbed leisure of being able to sit back and relax a bit after enjoying our meals, which we feel rightfully entitled to given we are paying customers, we still left happy as the food was really satisfying.