As you leave Shoreditch going north towards Hackney you will probably go up the Kingsland Road.
This too has been a melting pot over the recent years, transforming itself from local Hackney types through a period of Russian occupation, and now it’s the turn of Viet Nam.
There are more Viet Namese restaurants in this little stretch than anywhere else in the whole of London (OK I made up the statistic, don’t quote it! But hopefully you get the point).
Eating here is great, assuming of course that you like the food that is a bit like a meeting point between Thai and Chinese. It’s usually dirt cheap. The places tend to be heaving with nationals and students, and if it’s not busy you have to ask yourself why – you might be better off queuing for a busy one rather than saving time and eating at a quieter one. And what makes it better still is that you can often get knock of beers from the Russian off licenses down the road for stupidly low prices.
End result. Have a fun meal and get drunk, or at least on the way, for about £15. And they say that London is expensive. Not if you know where to look.
We went to Tay Do Café, it was probably the first one I went to years ago and we have been back there so many times. The staff are often surly to the point of being rude – but that’s part of the fun.
The toilets aren’t fun though – just hold on if you can, they’re bad enough to put you off your food.



