A boundlessly chirpy Vietnamese café, VN is a welcome sight on an otherwise rather dingy corner of Clerkenwell Road. Whitewashed walls, lime-green chairs and paper lanterns provide an agreeable
backdrop to bowls of good-value pho (noodle soups), bun (noodle salads) and assorted rice dishes. Spring and summer rolls, spicy chicken wraps and chilli salt prawns provide reinforcements on the
short menu, along with a clutch of stir-fries involving meat and seafood with black beans, chilli, pineapple and suchlike. To drink, there’s an assortment of reasonably priced native beers (Hanoi,
Saigon and Hue), but as Café VN’s name implies, you can also drop in for a cup of Vietnamese coffee (try it iced with condensed milk). A planned karaoke room is likely to open the place up to a
whole new audience.