Viet Eat

Not that my opinion or star rating really matters, but this is the kind of place that actually deserves 3.5 stars were I able to give that.
It’s nice to see somewhere independent on Kingsway and I thought the quality of the prawn summer rolls was really excellent. They came in a £11.50 2 course deal which while not a mega bargain for the quantity of the food was reasonable. The second dish though I was a bit disappointed by. I got the bun bò hue because it was described as spicy but it wasn’t at all. It wasn’t really bad or anything, just no spice and the main flavour was coriander which was nice but again, not spicy. Really different to the last time I had this dish at Little Viet Kitchen, so a bit weird.
The staff were very nice and service was quick.
All in all, I would definitely consider coming back here if I was was nearby and didn’t have time to go further (i.e. towards Soho/​Covent Garden) but I would try something else for my main course.

This is probably my favorite banh mi place in London. Not only was the Honey BBQ Pork baguette fabulous, the crispy pork and crab spring rolls were awesome. This place gets packed for lunch but it’s definitely worth stopping by!

Best banh mi sandwich I’ve had in London and the vegetable spring roll was equally fantastic. Thoroughly enjoyed this authentic Vietnamese food

Bang on very decent place for lunch. Not cheap, bit it is Holborn after all. Not amazing but pretty good in s sea of indifferent chains.

Absolutely zero special about this place. It is unfortunate, as Thai food can be stunning and this is sooooo far short of even interesting. Lots of flavourless dishes and cheap imitation ingredients. The food options themselves are not lacking — as you will see from the photos on the review page. You can certainly get phở, pad thai, banh mi, and all the other favourites… but I wouldn’t recommend anything.
Food is just boring, place feels manufactured and like a bad imitation of a real restaurant. But, can get some food to fill you up without getting sick, so not terrible and not too expensive.

Vietnamese fast casual, decent if you’re not expecting too much. Located in the Holborn area, just two minutes from Holborn station, Vieteat is a perfect place for something quick before meeting friends.
I went here a few times now. Each time I ordered Phở, plus a couple of different side orders. The spring rolls and Banh mi here are not bad. But I was disappointed with the Phở. It lacks flavour and tasted artificial. It’s like they’re not using real stock from the meat. Oh and for some reasons, Phở always came out luke warm and not pipping hot.
I would come here again if I’m in need of a quickie. But next time, I’d stick to Banh Mi and spring rolls.

Good Vietnamese fast food, looks good on the plate, tasty and good value for money.
I wouldn’t claim to be an expert on Asian food but I was the only non Asian person (and it was full) in the restaurant which I think says something.
Service was excellent and I would happily come back.

…I almost don’t want to post this as I’d like to keep this place all to myself. Simple, fast, affordable Vietnamese street food. Does what it says on the tin.

Vieteat provides a steady and guaranteed tasty vietnamese meal and at a very affordable price. Located in the Holborn area, a stones-​throw away from the tube stop, Vieteat is a perfect place for a quick lunch in a quaint restaurant. Being very clean, and the décor being very pleasant, this establishment certainly deserves a visit when paired with the quality of food.
As a note, the reader should keep in mind that I haven’t had any of the sandwiches that they serve, but instead have tried most of the soups.
Firstly, this place is an absolute mob scene (think a toned-​down black Friday) during lunch, both for sit down and takeaway. Having Phở available for takeaway is a huge money maker, so it is rightfully a bit packed during the lunch hour. Sitting in a a great option, considering they have a decent amount of tables both inside and out.
The food here is really delicious. The portions are generous, the ingredients fresh, and they are pretty quick with the food. I have gotten the Chicken Phở and the vermicelli noodles more times that I care to recall. Over time the food is constantly filling and delicious
Now onto the downsides: space and other options. Vieteat is kinda small. You will be rubbing shoulders with other people, and the people waiting for their takeaway orders will take up a lot of space near the register so it isn’t a stress free experience. Coming in with the intention to sit down for lunch may prove to be difficult since you may have to elbow the standouts that come here for lunch (I went to the LSE and Vieteat was a popular spot). Secondly, there are tons of other Vietnamese restaurants that provide the same quality food (if not better) in a larger location, providing an overall better experience. Hence, this place is a good place to grab either food for takeaway, or to grab a speedy lunch a little after the rush hours.

I came here twice, each time getting something different, and hoping that the second time would be better than the first. The first time I stopped by, I ordered a tofu banh mi. When the dish came out I was pretty excited because the plating was pretty nice, but I was disappointed as soon as I took the first bite. The sandwich was SUPER salty, and the tofu was drenched in this gloopy sauce that really didn’t serve any purpose (in my opinion) other than to make the bread soggy. It took a while to get our check too — not sure if there was some miscommunication or something, but even though we were the first in our area to ask for the check, everyone else got their check before us. Thankfully we weren’t in a rush! Even after we paid, it took around 10 minutes to get us our change — and we were one of only two occupied tables… so I didn’t really understand that.
The second time, I decided to try the phở (tofu). We probably wouldn’t have stopped by again except it was raining pretty hard and we were all craving some classic phở. Again — disappointed. The noodles are NOT your traditional phở noodles — they’re some super wide type of noodles that seemed a bit overcooked. The tofu was alright, but the soup tasted awfully artificial. My friend said she could taste the MSG.
After these two experiences, I will definitely not be back. I had high hopes since this place is really close to school, but unfortunately this place just does not satisfy my needs. If you do decide to come here, also be aware that the seating is really awkward and difficult to get into (hard to explain here, but you’ll see what I mean).

Hospitable with a pleasant ambience and chill-​out music, Viet Eat is a nice option to have in Holborn. There are electrical sockets available beside each table which is convenient for charging laptops and mobiles.
The drinks and sauces used are not homemade but come from pre-​packed products e.g. a green grass jelly can, a green tea bag or their hot chilli and hoisin sauce. The set dinner menu offers a good bargain of starter/​salad with main for £14. Their portions are generous, the salad crunchy-​fresh and the vermicelli silky smooth. The meat is bog-​standard despite being called ‘steak’. It’s nice to see Vietnamese baguettes available on the menu; something of a novelty as it is not commonly seen but a decent delight to try.
Nothing extraordinary but as ‘nice’ and simple Vietnamese food comes; the type of restaurant that seems suited to students. Even their advert has 2 spelling mistakes, in typical Asian-​style.

We had dinner at Viet Eat on a Sunday evening, and were unsure what to expect given the mix of reviews. We were pleasantly surprised.
I had the lemongrass chicken bun, while my partner had the duck main dish and the prawn and sweet potato pancake to start. It was all scrumptious. The lemongrass bun was flavourful, the noodles were warm and in addition to the fish sauce arriving in the dish (which admittedly threw me for a loop), the dish included coriander — a nice addition to the bowl (and a favourite of mine).
The duck came without rice (and he’d opted not to order any) but was a good sized, saucy portion with big chunks of pineapple. The pancake to start was warm, crispy and came with cool lettuce leaves to wrap them in with salad and fish sauce. Weird… but a really good (I’d even recommend it) weird.
Service was reasonable and the food arrived quickly. Overall, an enjoyable and reasonably priced dinner!

We’ve struggled finding great Phở restaurant in England. In my opinion, this is a solid 4 star restaurant.
The honey pork baguette was spot on!
We also had the double cooked caramelised pork which was delicious!
The red wine beef stew Phở was also great.
All those dishes were 5 star quality. Unfortunately, the phở was just acceptable. Without anything else on it, it was rather bland. With the right combination of hoisin sauce and chilli sauce it was enough to fulfil the urge for phở.
So if you must have great Phở, this might not be the best. Having said that though, we haven’t found anything better when it comes to Phở this side of the English Channel.
If you’re not crazy about phở, then by all means come here as the other dishes we tried were spot on :)
Hope that helps.

poor food, slow mother (effin) service.
all i want is the set lunch meal: a bowl of phở and some spring rolls.
they take forever to make. the phở is just some cheap plasticky tubular noodles, not the flat chewy noodles ur supposed to get.
come to san francisco ill show u where to get real phở.

Embarrassingly dumbed-​down take on Vietnamese food. Think Pizza Hut being referred to as «Italian» and you start to get the idea. Nuoc cham was essentially sugar and a drop of fish sauce in water. There were no herbs to be found anywhere. The flavour profiles felt more like a canteen take on Thai ingredients rather than anything brighter. Rice was tough and dried out.
To crown the disaster, the staff were dismissive and made it clear they wanted to be anywhere but there.
Avoid.

I’ve had an okay baguette here, but I am always very confused by the poor service here.
The dining room is tiny. It’s literally 6 tables that seat 4 – 6 people each. There are always 3 – 4 servers working at any time, yet every time I sit down, it takes at least 10 minutes for them to acknowledge me, much less take my drink order.
The food comes out slowly. There’s really no reason for it — everything on the menu purports to be Vietnamese street food, and surely they have most of the ingredients ready to stir-​fry in the kitchen. They bring out the food in whatever random intervals they feel like that day. I had a friend receive her baguette before I got my appetizer… cue 30 minutes of awkward, slow eating… Oh, and it’s all overpriced. Very overpriced.
It’s confusing to me how this place can survive with such bad management, given the high rents of Kingsway storefronts.

Tried twice. The noodles were literally noodles (with only a handful slices of beef), and was a bit salty.
Then the honey pork with rice — better than noodles, the sauce was really good. but is overpriced comparing to wasabi (same tasty, less costy).

If you’re looking for an authentic bowl of phở, this is the place — to pass. It’s pleasant enough inside, the service is fair, and the phở is tasteless and uninteresting. Those are two words that that should never be used to describe Vietnamese phở.

It is more like a canteen than a restaurant with shared tables and fast service. But had to queue for a table each time, bit it is so worth it. The food is exceptionally good and authentic, make sure your order always includes salt & pepper squid, Phở and very delicious spring crispy pork and crab roll.
Good service but just avoid lunch time as it is getting very busy.

Viet Eat, Day 1, and I happened to be there! I didn’t realize until after the meal that it was their first day open. I’m glad I got to be a part of that esteemed day because eating their Banh Mi with stew beef was certainly an honor! It was my first Banh Mi so I’m no expert, but the beef was tender and melted deliciously in my mouth and the baguette itself was crispy on the outside and soft and delicious on the inside. My husband was trying to figure out how to bend the rules of space and time to get to have this sandwich on his lunch break. It definitely makes a nice well-​spiced change to the regular, everyday sandwich.
I also tried the beef phở with rice noodles and it was good. I have a cold at the moment, so the sharp tastes of the coriander and spring onion were very good for me and I enjoyed the noodles. I’m not sure how authentic the taste is, as I have only ordered phở once before and it was really bad, but it was a good comfort soup with a gentle broth. I have been wanting to learn more about Vietnamese food (translation: eat it!) and I’m really glad we dropped in!:) I am sure I will be seeing that Banh Mi again soon.