I'm sure I've mentioned it before but Vietnamese is one of my favourite cuisines. Kingsland Road in Shoreditch is known as "Vietnamese Mile" and boasts numerous restaurants but like many places where there's a concentration of specialist restaurants, it can be hard to pick a good one. From the outside Mein Tay may not catch your attention but cast aside appearances as this will be the one you want to eat at. In my humble opinion, it's the best one on the street.
I'm not overly adventurous as I know what I like. Why fix what isn't broken? But I highly recommend the gorgeously crispy spring rolls with an addictive dipping sauce, the creamy Vietnamese clay pot chicken curry, the rare beef brisket pho and the fresh chargrilled mince pork and spring roll rice vermicelli noodles (my favourite!).
BYOB is available Sunday to Thursday with a corkage charge of £2.50 per person. But it is fully licensed if you want to purchase your drink there.
Mien Tay is amazing value for money, the food is always consistent and the location is great if you fancy heading out for a drink afterwards. It's very rare that I visit a restaurant in London more than twice but I have been back here time and time again. Let me know if you pay it a visit!