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| It’s satay-day night fever |
Nam An is now the hottest new place for authentic
Vietnamese cuisine
A NEW arrival in Camden. Opened three weeks ago, I predict a
brilliant future for this new Vietnamese Restaurant if they keep
up the quality of the food and service. Situated at the Mornington
Crescent end of Camden High Street it occupies the site which used
to be Nontas.
The owners have gone to a great deal of effort about every detail.
The menus (food, wine and take-away) are of good quality print and
indeed one of them resembles a glossy food magazine with colourful
pictures on shiny pages obviously treated to be sponged clean.
Dark wood with mirrors and ceiling fans, Chinese artwork and vases,
chairs with bamboo decorations. The restaurant is divided in two
with the upper part (non-smoking) and past the bar a large room
for the smokers. I have never been in Vietnam but Nam An reminded
me of the family type restaurants in Singapore – happy places
where the sharing of the food is a symbol to the sharing of friendship
and enjoyment.
I went alone which restricted me to the amount of dishes I could
have but carefully watched the adjoining tables. A table of four
were having the Set C menu – a seafood selection of Sugar Cane
Prawns, Grilled Scallops, Fried Soft Shell Crab, Grilled Satay Prawns,
Shark Fin and Crab Meat soup, Sautéed Lobster, Sweet and
Sour King Prawns, Stewed Fish in clay pot, Stir Fried Vegetables
with Garlic and Seafood Fried Rice in Pineapple (£35 per person,
minimum four persons).
I was warmly greeted and taken to the corner table next to the window
(table number seven – highly recommended) which gave me an
excellent view of the restaurant and the passersby.
I ordered a glass of house white (A Baron Guilhaume de Bermond Blanc)
which at £2.25 for a 175 ml glass is one of the best values
in town and of very good quality.
A little bowl of spicy peanuts accompanied it. Their wine list is
well balanced with my favourite Chateneuf-du-Pape 2002 at £24.75
and a 2003 Sancerre at £19. For dinner I had a quarter of
the crispy aromatic duck (£7.50) and the ‘Dong Xuan’
stir fried rice vermicelli with prawns and chicken (£6.50).
The portions are generous and beautifully presented. The table looked
lovely. A white crisp linen table mat, a flickering night candle
and the dishes placed on the dark background.
A complimentary platter of fruit was offered with the bill which
came to £20.81 and included a 12.5 per cent service –
the credit card receipt had not been closed though – naughty.
In recognition of the excellent service I left some extra for the
staff in cash.
Having already been discovered by writer Dame Beryl Bainbridge I
am sure that soon word of mouth will bring the excellent clientele
of Greater London House and staff and guests of the well known firm
Ove Arup & Partners who are just across the street.
Nam An
14-16 Camden , High Street NW1
020 7383 7245
Opening hours
Seven days a week
Lunch 12pm - 3.30pm
Evenings 6pm until late.
www.namanlondongroup.com |
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