Saigon Saigon, Vietnamese restaurant, Hammersmith

Saigon Saigon is one of a cluster of restaurants located on King Street in Hammersmith; it aims to serve authentic Vietnamese cuisine. I went along for a catch up with a few school friends and arrived first so spent a while being nosey and looking round the restaurant. I would describe Saigon Saigon as a high end take-away joint, with reasonable prices, genuinely good food, and reliable service, the interior is warm and welcoming.

The menu is never-ending, with many of the options seeming almost identical. After a few rounds of spicy prawn crackers we chose a few starters to share. I insisted on chargrilled marinated chicken satay, succulent meat squashed onto sticks and covered in a deliciously sweet peanut marinade. The others were keen on the fishy choices and chose the spicy farci crab shell filled with crab meat, vermicelli threads and backfeather fish meat... surprisingly filling, the prospect of mains became a little daunting.

The next course came in steaming bowls. I chose chicken curry with sweet potatoes, basil, chilli and coriander. This dish was a cross between a Thai and Indian curry, the aromatic flavours of Thai with the thickness and creamy texture of Indian. I loved the curry sauce, very fresh and zingy flavours made it very moreish but there was far too much chicken and not enough vegetables, and I ended up leaving a sad pile of untouched meat in my bowl. Around the table my friends tried the rice vermicelli topped with stir fried beef with chilli & lemongrass and the king prawn curry with aubergine, okra, diced potatoes, green peppers & sweet basil. The portions seemed average, but along with accompanying steamed fragrant rice we all found it difficult to finish.

I am a little ignorant of Vietnamese food so feel it is unfair for me to judge the authenticity of Saigon Saigon, but from my lovely experience here I would say it is definitely worth a try if you live nearby.

Saigon Saigon, 313-317 King Street, Hammersmith, W6 9NH. Visit the website here.

Viet Grill in Hoxton

Deciding where to eat in Hoxton takes a while - there is everything and anything you could ever desire, a juicy burger in The Diner, a veggie treat in Saf, or something a bit more exotic from the selection of Thai and South East Asian eateries. We chose to venture to the huddle of restaurants on Kingsland Road, specifically to the very popular Viet Grill, a great hang-out serving as authentic Vietnamese food as you're likely to find anywhere in London.

The restaurant was bustling as you might expect on a Saturday night. The success of this venue has led to the opening of two other restaurants, both with a similar menu. We passed sister restaurant Cay Tre on our way, where hungry Hoxton hippies stood in a long line outside awaiting a table and some grub.

We were seated downstairs at the bar where, with a Hanoi beer, we waited till a space became available. Before too long a waiter showed us to a nearby table and gave us menus. There are certain categories on the menu but many of the dishes seemed very similar to me. Unfortunately our confused waiter seemed to know nothing about the food which didn't help much with the decision making process. For mains we opted for two meat dishes: sitting duck curry and ginger roast duck, the food came very promptly - very generously sized, steaming bowls of aromatic fare. Silence fell over the table as we scrambled over the food. Rich and delicious and very fresh tasting, the duck was cooked to perfection. In a hope of finding the 'morning glory' vegetable that I am addicted to in Busaba Eathai, we ordered a portion of wokked Bo Xoi greens cooked with crushed garlic and a touch of rice wine, this was a lovely complement to our main dishes.

I wouldn't recommend Vietnamese desserts unless you've experience of these curious delicacies - sweet treats that tend to taste rather odd to western tastebuds, often consisting of slimy jelly or strange fruity flavours that I find rather challenging and unpleasant. So we left on a high from our mains.

Viet Grill has a great vibe and fresh delicious food that is reasonable and comforting. Definitely worth the trip.