This family-run eatery was dishing up steaming-hot bowls of pho noodle soup long before Vietnamese cuisine became fashionable in the capital. Loved by locals for its modest prices and snappy service, Mekong entices customers with its displays of Vietnamese artwork on lime-green walls and a menu that brings bright, invigorating flavours and contrasting textures to the table. The kitchen proves its worth with cold ‘crystal’ rolls, crunchy ‘goi’ salads with nuoc cham dressing, zingy stir-fries, bo luc lac (‘shaking beef’), ca kho (a simmered seafood hotpot) and Saigon rice-stick noodles, but it also crosses the Mekong and scours the Far East for the likes of beef satay, bang-bang chicken, pad thai and twice-cooked Szechuan pork. Punchy New World Rieslings and other carefully chosen wines stand up well to the vibrant flavours.