Sông Quê Phở Bar, London E1: a compact phở bar on Commercial Street

After almost 25 years, east London’s Sông Quê has opened a small offshoot: Sông Quê Phở Bar on Commercial Street. The compact menu centres on phở and includes a handful of the original café’s small plates, from summer rolls and green papaya salad to grilled lamb chops and savoury banh khot cupcakes.

The new site sits almost directly opposite Xian Biang Biang Noodles and close to Som Saa, with another Vietnamese-leaning spot, Slurp Thai, nearby. That stretch of Spitalfields can be difficult for passing trade; previous occupants on the same site, including The Pearly Queen and a Turkish restaurant called The Space, did not last long.

The phở bar feels intent on doing one thing well: bowls of beef-broth noodle soup topped with a choice of beef, beef balls, chicken, prawns or tofu. Rare beef flank arrives thinly sliced and pink atop al dente noodles, brightened with chopped spring onion and a richly spiced, star-anise-scented broth.

United Kingdom, London E1

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