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The revamped Viet Grill is one of the most authentic and enjoyable Vietnamese restaurants I have ever experienced in London.

Mark Hix, The Independent

Kingsland Road is lined with Vietnamese eateries and will host a street-food festival as part of the inaugural London Restaurant Festival in October. Viet Grill (like its sister Cay Tre) is as good as it gets, with dishes such as Cha Ca La Vong: marinated monkfish cooked on a camping stove at the table and served with rice vermicelli, pimento, ground nuts, fennel and a pungent shrimp sauce. It’s 5.50 pounds a head, reflecting this venue’s low prices. Viet Grill is a favourite of Mark Hix and other chefs.

Richard Vines, Bloomberg

I go there & I get all my take-aways from there for my smart dinners & luncheons, when I don’t feel like cooking. Everyone loves the food!

Anissa Helou, Food Writer

Fine wine in a Vietnamese restaurant in Hackney. It sounds unlikely. But when I heard that wine expert Malcolm Gluck had drawn up a wine list specifically tailored to match the menu here, I was intrigued… On a strip with several decent Vietnamese restaurants already, the marriage of refined Vietnamese food with a proper, grown-up wine list definitely raises the bar.

The London Paper (now defunct)

Vietnamese food is the most exciting AND MODERN in the orient, and one of the most innovative on the planet because of the freshness of its ingredients, its subtle but telling use of marinades and sauces, and – what is unique – the abundance of herbs cleverly incorporated. No cuisine outside Europe is better suited to partnering with wine because of these factors. But are all Vietnamese restaurants equal? No way. Viet Grill has an outstanding chef and to support his dexterity I have been privileged to compile a short, delicious, and far from predictable wine list with great bottles at very reasonable prices.

Malcolm Gluck, Wine Writer

You must try the Viet Grill – a restaurant that experiments with a wild variety of dishes, introduces you to some unearthly flavours, fills you up for days and charms the pants off you… if you’re after the true taste of home-cooking from the other side of the world, you need look no further

John Walsh, The Independent

Prices for food are eminently reasonable, making the wines even more of a ‘bargain’. No dish costs more than 7.50 and many are offered at two sizes/two prices. Malcolm Gluck’s list is a most welcome innovation. Sweet staff and serious wine glasses, especially for the reds, just add to the pleasure.

Fay Maschler, Evening Standard

I live in Hackney on the borders of Islington, Stoke Newington and Dalston, and the area is a magnet for great food outlets… and best of all, Vietnamese eateries. The Vietnamese have been there since they fled their country in 1975, and over the years they have set up great-value cafés and restaurants. My favourite is the Cay Tre and its sister The Viet Grill, owned by Hieu Trung Bui. He arrived here about eight years ago from Ho Chi Minh City and worked in several of the local Vietnamese restaurants before he realised there was a gap in the market for slightly edgy, authentic Vietnamese food. He opened Cay Tre first on Old Street, which was certainly off piste for a Vietnamese restaurant, as most are up the Kingsland Road, and then went on to open The Viet Grill among his competitors in Shoreditch; both places are great.

Mark Hix, The Independent