Award Winning Chef Jeff Tan has quite the following after his phenomenally successful Soho ‘street food’ concept won diners hearts. Now he’s moved on to upmarket South Ken with a completely different take on Vietnamese cuisine.
Let’s start by clearing some things up. The name Go-Viet suggests a speedy low-key affair but Jeff (former Hakkasan chef) has clearly created something altogether more special – especially if the beautifully presented amuse bouche we tuck into is anything to go by.
An intimate space with comfortable booth seating, Go-Viet serves contemporary Vietnamese.
We left it to the chef to bring us a selection of the tastiest treats and boy did he deliver. We were rewarded with the Bí Mật Tomato – unlike anything we’d tried before. Marinated overnight in a top secret mix of herbs and spices, the cherry tomatoes pop in the mouth, similar to an explosion of gazpacho.
To counterbalance that, the sticky grilled pork ribs were decadent and delicious, whilst the beef salad zinged with fresh herbs. It didn’t end there, course after course arrived. HUGE shrimps coated in a coconut flecked batter are dipped in homemade sweet chilli sauce. Classic beef in black bean sauce is given a makeover with the beef shin slow cooked for 24 hour to create a rich stew. Kings prawns are threaded on a lemongrass skewer which looked pretty and tasted even better.
The long and short of it is – come hungry! Our favourite dish of the night was the delicately cooked pork on rice – try it! Jess is also well known for his Pho dishes, but we didn’t have room for that this time.
Lunch at Go-Viet is a less formal affair but no less impressive. The menu includes small plates, salads and appetisers, Pho, Bun, Greens and Rice, and daily desserts.