• “You’d think people would be flocking to a new Vietnamese restaurant,” She’d observed, and She was right. Arriving at Huong Que early on Friday evening only two weeks after the place had opened, it’s clear we should have booked. By 8pm the place is packed, with people happily sharing tables in order to get their only chance of a full-on Vietnamese meal in Venueland. While coping admirably, you feel that maybe even the Huong Que staff are a bit surprised at their own success. The brightly decorated dining rooms are buzzing, the small crew of waiting staff is practically running from table to table and trays of food are appearing at an unbelievable pace. If it feels chaotic, there’s still a geniality about the service that tells you you’re not forgotten and, if anything, the rapid delivery is almost an over-hasty reminder that someone’s waiting to use your seat.

As a past habitué of the Shoreditch dining scene, She knows her Vietnamese food pretty well, but for me it’s been a while since my only proper experience. I recall clean-tasting food, not over-rich, and the Vietnamese salad starter is a Proustian reminder – crisp, fine cut vegetables and crushed nuts in a gently gingery dressing. We’re expecting prawn rolls, too, but they don’t come. What does arrive (in quick succession) is everything else we’ve ordered, filling the table and setting us off on the main event. There’s a big tureen of pho bo chin soup in front of Her, a rich, clear broth with rice noodles and thin slices of well-cooked beef, and a plate of caramelised pork, sticky rice and pickled salad for me, with garlic-fried choy sum and a beansprout salad on the side. My pork has a melting sweetness, her beef evaporates on the tongue, while flavours of chilli, lemongrass, ginger and spring onion permeate everything. We share it all happily, steadily clearing the plates until all that remains is the last of the broth and a feeling of unforced satisfaction that the right amount of confidently cooked food always delivers. It’s BYO, so the food bill at £27 is so painless we forgive those lost prawn rolls. We will, however, be back to claim them another time soon. (Tony Benjamin)

HUONG QUE 209 GLOUCESTER RD, BRISTOL, BS7 8NN, TEL: 0117 373 8882.

VENUE VERDICT

SATISFYINGLY AUTHENTIC, REASONABLY PRICED VIETNAMESE FOOD IN A FRIENDLYAMBIENCE
 

Copyright Tony Benjamin 2011

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