Gỗ

The only Vietnamese restaurant on the London Michelin Guide (which just doesn't sound right), I'm very fortunate that this delightful little restaurant is but a stone's throw from the Imperial College South Kensington Campus. So it is that I finished work and headed over to get muh grub on. Chowing down on a riot of flash-fried vegetables, I came to the realisation that Vietnamese food is one of my favourites - the flavours, the textures, the colours, everything about a hot plate of Bun Chay fills me with joy. This isn't by design; I have no affinity for Vietnamese food, having never visited Vietnam. It's simply an acknowledgement of incredibly tasty, thoughtful food.

I ordered the Bun Chay (Vegetarian noodle salad with peanuts, chilli peppers, cucumbers, beansprouts, enoki mushrooms and wonderfully chewy King oyster mushrooms), Organic Egg Fried Rice with Lettuce, Vegetarian Summer Rolls with Crispy Wild Mushrooms, and a Wow Wow (soft drink of pineapple, lime, melon and apple) to wash it all down with. The prices indicated that this would all be about enough for a meal. They were misleading. Contrary to what is usual in London, this was way more than was necessary, to the point where, when the Summer Rolls were yet to appear halfway through the Bun Chay, I hoped they had simply been forgotten.

So it was that I started with the Bun Chay and Egg Fried Rice, the former being a veritable mountain of perfectly flash-fried vegetables, nuts and vermicelli noodles that I splashed with a liberal helping of soy sauce. The egg fried rice fell apart wonderfully, and was nicely seasoned. Collectively, this course was one of the best I've ever had. Incredible.

I then had the Vegetarian Summer Rolls, which were served with hoisin sauce. This came as a set of four, but by this point two were more than enough for me. Not the absolute best Summer Rolls I've had, but still accomplished.

When offered the dessert menu, I was barely awake enough to say no. Gỗ provide incredible food for a very low price, and this outing was easily one of my favourite since coming to London.

Value for money? £28.60 for a starter, main course, side, beverage and service charge. So yes, but my tip is this: get the Bun Chay and a beverage, and spend £15 on one of the best meals you'll ever have. 

Would I return? Absolutely.