After delivering a thrashing at snooker it was to Green Lanes to find some dinner with the family. As far as I know Hanoi Phô is the only Vietnamese within strolling distance of Harringay and thus offers a bit of variety from the kebab avalanche (kebabalanche) of high street eateries.

The small room is bright with bucket seats not exactly ergonomically designed for our brethren – it was somewhat akin to sitting on a Chopper.* Maybe it’s a Vietnamese thing. There’s also good people-watching to be had through the floor to ceiling window. I don’t think they have a licence – there was no alcohol on the menu – and I didn’t find out if you could take your own as we’d already had a couple of Efes baize-side followed by a cheeky one in The Salisbury (a good pub) and it was time for a rest. So I had a sparkling water.

We shared starters of one portion each of spring and summer nem. The spring nem (prawn variety) were packed with fresh and aromatic crunchy herbs and lettuce while the summer variety was a deep fried pork’n’stodge thing that wasn’t quite as appetising.

A big bowl of prawn phô was my main. A dozen or so good-sized prawns were swimming in a too subtle broth with ribbony noodles. So I livened it up by lobbing in the entire side veg and a liberal dose of Goose Island Sriracha Chilli Sauce. Yum.

Service was efficient, perhaps a bit too efficient for a relaxing Saturday evening, so I’d say Hanoi Phô is more suited to a quick pit stop than a baggy evening dinner.

7/10

*The classic low-slung 1970s bike, not some hardware from Apocalypse Now.

To see which other restaurants I’ve visited in 2016 check out my GoogleMap

London Restaurants Green Lanes Hanoi Phô Harringay London Restaurant Review Vietnamese