For those who have a weakness for seriously tasty Vietnamese food, as I do, you need to pay a visit to Chapel Market, a stone’s throw away from Angel tube station. As you stroll through the market, past the famous Pie & Mash and Eels restaurant M.Manze you come across a shining beckon of shabby chic cool with a mint, grey and wooden exterior. The name ‘The Little Viet Kitchen’ is etched above the door. Once you enter a wave of calm serenity washes over you. This is a place to lunch and take your time.

The first thing that hits you is how charming and well thought through the restaurant is. From the stunning chandeliers, to the beautiful vases of fresh flowers on each table, to the wooden ceilings, the bar stools and the lights above the bar.

Everything oozes with considered cool. It’s a place that immediately puts you at ease. There is no frenetic lunching here.

The restaurant is the brainchild of Thuy Pham-Kelly, who launched the restaurant last year, having previously run a successful Vietnamese supper club. She still continues with her supper clubs each month where dinners arrive at 6pm and are treated to a surprise Vietnamese banquet that changes each month. Her passion and love of Vietnamese food is clearly evident both in the cooking but also the way that she has injected so much of her own personality into the restaurant. She wants diners to feel they are dining in her own home.

We started our Vietnamese feast with non-alcohol cocktails. For me a ‘Lemongrass Ginger Sherbet Colada’ and for my partner in crime ‘Cucumber Mojito’. I had never tried anything like my sherbet colada before, but I must say it was addictively good. It reminded me vaguely of those wonderful sherbet fountains I used to eat as a child. You know the ones that you dip a liquorice stick in.

We then opted for today’s special starters (they change daily), which were king prawns and a spider crab each on a Vietnamese salad bursting with flavour. It was a great taster of what was to come.

As a side note I wanted to mention the stunning, tactile crockery that the food was served in. Not only did the bowls and plates have weight they also kept the food hotter for longer, owing to the fact that they were made of clay. Sourced from Japan, they complement the food perfectly.

One of the statement dishes (the other being Pho, but I shall have that on my return visit) is Banh Xeo – Vietnamese Pancakes – which was larger than life as you can see. We opted for the one filled with pork belly and prawn. It’s a great dish to share and allows you to get really stuck in as you need to eat it with your fingers. After cutting a bite sized portion of the pancake you wrap it in a lettuce leaf and add some fresh herbs – mint and coriander. You then roll it up slightly before dipping it in the nuoc cham sauce. If you want to know how to cook them yourself, albeit a lot smaller ones than the one I ate, take a look at my recipe here.

Next up was the ‘Coconut Poussin Curry’ that packed a delicate chilli punch. All the meat sourced is organic  and consequently has flavour and tastes good. The coconut infused broth was deliciously creamy and nicely spiced. Nothing bland about the cooking here.  The dish does require quite a bit of concentration to eat as there is a generous portion of noodles sitting in the bowl. Transferring noodles to mouth without any contact with one’s pristine top/blouse/shirt (delete as appropriate) is quite a skill. I think I just about managed it!

We were then treated to Thuy’s special ‘Vietnamese Fried Spring Rolls’ that were filled with pork, water chestnut and glass noodles. They were utterly delicious and I liked the fact that they had water chestnuts in them, a first for me.

Needing to digest we drank cups of lemongrass and green tea, the perfect beverage to finish off a very filling and delicious lunch. Will I be returning? Most definitely YES and I plan to entice more of my south London friends to join me. The northern line really does make it very easy.

The Little Viet Kitchen

2 Chapel Market, Angel Islington

London, N1 9EZ

Tel: 0207 837 9779

Monday             Closed

Tuesday             12:00 to 15:00, 18:00 to 22:00

Wednesday       12:00 to 15:00, 18:00 to 22:00

Thursday           12:00 to 15:00, 18:00 to 23:00

Friday                 12:00 to 15:00, 18:00 to 23:00

Saturday            12:00 to 23:00