Loong Kee

There's a stretch of Vietnamese restaurants on Kingsland Road, between the Geffrey and Waterston St., and I was in the area and hungry for bánh xèo (Vietnamese crispy pancake filled with stir-fried meat and veggies). Looking at all the restaurant menus, this one seemed to have the best priced version of the dish, and I could choose chicken or shrimp. The ambience was bright and uncluttered, with a decent amount of customers but no line. My partner and I walked in and got a table for two at around 7.30pm on a weeknight.

Unfortunately, we weren't wowed. Our verdict was that they have decent bánh xèo (I opted for the shrimp, which were nicely plump and cooked well.) Their bánh cuôn (spring rolls) were pretty poor, in our opinion as people who have collectively taken three trips to Vietnam and eaten at a fair few Vietnamese restaurants. By poor, I mean the taste was simply not good. I only ate half of one and didn't want more. My partner's celery beef phô seemed good, but I don't eat beef so I only slurped a little soup. What irked us was that there was no fish sauce on table, and when we asked for some it was pretty watery.

All in all I'm excited to try other restaurants on this strip, but likely won't be back here.

My friends in London were planning a meal out in London and decided to go for a Vietnamese restaurant. The restaurant was a bit crowded in my option, but during the cold and dinner time, what else is there going to be?! We had a variety of dishes to try and all were very tasty. I'd recommend coming on a weekday if possible. It will be a bit more quiet. ENJOY!

Super disappointed with this place. Have always been hearing that the banh cuon was meant to be amazing. It really wasn't. I went with a Vietnamese friend and I've been eating Vietnamese food for a while now and I can confirm the filling was mediocre and tasteless. Without the sauce it was flavourless. With the sauce, it was lame.

Hoping the summer rolls were going to be better. It wasn't. The rolls were filled with lettuce and a prawn that had been sliced in half. Once again, super disappointed. :( where's the vermicelli, herbs and flavours??

Finally. Onto the shaking beef and morning glory...both were okay, although the beef dish contained more onions than beef.

Will not be going back...ever.

Such a disappointment.

Of the many Vietnamese along Kingsland Road, I decided on this one night as it was closest to a nearby pub. It was Halloween night, and instead of waiting in the queue for over 10mins, I decided to sate my hunger for a cheap quick bite. That was the key. I wasn't interested in anything fancy, just value for money, reliable and expected quick eat - and Loong Kee delivered on those points.

Service fast and friendly, and even though they hosted huge party downstairs, and customers were still being sat down when I arrived after 22:30 at a still busy house, my dish was served to me in 5 minutes. I opted for the dry vermicelli noodles with lemon grass and grilled chicken, over the other usual pho. Portion was huge, and it came with generous side bowl of sweet vinaigrette. I would preferred more vermicelli noodles, but at least veg was very fresh, abundant and chicken cooked just right. Tasted just like how one would make at home; wholesome, filling and comforting.

Yes, the decor is a bit dated, it isn't exactly white-table cloth clean, but like how most street food type of menus at value prices, people just come for the quick yummy bites. If you're looking for exception service and a more refined interior, you'll be paying more at the other Vietnamese restaurants on the same street. At similar price points, but slightly better ingredients and taste, the prices will creep closer to £10 per main course.

Overall, for no-frills wholesome simple dishes, highly recommended, especially for late night bites.

So far we have tried the summer rolls, banh cuon and pho with garlic beef. All were delicious and I will definitely keep coming. The prices are fair and the food comes very quickly! This is a great spot if you're in a rush and want fresh food. I recommend the summer rolls and banh cuon (with minced pork.) I'm definitely a noodles lover and the pho definitely filled my satisfaction. I do wish there was more stuffing in the banh cuon but it's still delicious.

Solidly solid Vietnamese at the far end of Kingston road. Perhaps not the greatest, and an odd, claustrophobia-inducing layout, but a variety of folk here sampling pretty decent dishes.

We only had a bowl of Pho and a bowl of Bun - staples to fill our bellies, but both were well-executed,big, fresh, and solid. Perhaps a touch thin on the broth end, but cheap.

Also, BYO.

They lose a star - and business - though, as they charge £2.30 for boiled rice. This means that the reasonable dishes are bloody expensive.

Now, I know they need to make a living, but it's rice. About 20p worth. Maybe 23p including the gas and water to cook it. Come on.

Oh Que Viet, why were you closed for a wedding reception last night!?
You forced us away into the Vietnamese Wilderness that is Kingsland Road and we ended up in... Loong Kee.

Hmm... what good thing can I say about Loong Kee? Well it was BYO.

The food as Fred J. had described was largely stodgy and flavourless and I was sorely disappointed by my grilled monkfish with fixings (usually SOOOOO good at Que Viet). The bowls of pho were massive though and everyone managed to eat most of their food, so I will go for "it is not disgusting, but hardly amazing either".

The waitstaff were rather inattentive and 1/2 the table's food arrived when we basically finished our meal and the toilet were apparently disgusting- I didn't get to go coz the men's was blocked and 2 people were having a conversation in the ladies for like most of our meal.

We did have a fun britpop quiz and talked at large about tv shows. And obviously I enthused about R patz and how the word "dazzling" pisses me off nowadays.

Thank gods that the quality of conversations are not affected by the quality of restaurants.

I had a great time dining at Loong Kee. After pouring through the thousands of reviews on Vietnamese restaurants along Kingsland Road, this is where I elected to bring my boyfriend at the time for his first introduction to Vietnamese cuisine - he's pretty discerning and picky, so I wanted to make sure we went somewhere stellar - and I'm happy to say that neither one of us left disappointed.

As a starter, I had the steamed spring rolls and he had some kind of sesame cracker-looking thing topped with prawns, which he said was marvelous. As a main I had a soup with noodles and tofu and he had the pho... when we ordered he was a bit concerned that a "bowl of soup" wouldn't be enough, but when he saw the massive terrines they arrived in - his concerns were allayed.

The ingredients were all top-notch and the vegetables, especially, seemed fresh. The boyfriend couldn't believe the amazing flavour of the pho, and I felt my work had been in done in converting him to a new cuisine and a new dish.

The service was very friendly and our food came out quickly. The overall value for money was unbelievably fantastic... but note that it's BYOB - so we arrived with a chilled bottle of Sauvignon.

In a funny aside, our server, Ben, who it turned out was the son of the owner, approached my boyfriend while he was standing outside, waiting for me to finish washing up. After a bit of chit chat he suddenly blurted out, "Are you dating her?"

"Yes," my boyfriend replied.

"Is she your girlfriend?"

"Yes," he assured him, "she is."

"YOU," Ben said pointing at him, "are LUCKY," not without some reproach.

Ha... I laughed then, but especially now because said-boyfriend really should have taken heed. Yes, Ben, he *was* lucky - very lucky indeed.

In terms of value for money, Loong Kee's definitely one of the better Vietnamese restaurants in this part of town (namely because this place allows you to BYOB, if I recall correctly). In terms of service, though, this place is sadly lacking. I'd give it four stars if you're looking for a cheap place to fill up, and three stars for service.


The Banh Cuon (meat rolls) is pretty amazing. A small dish consists of nine or ten rolls (I lost count). The shallots which adorn this dish are very nice, so much so that my friend requested for additional shallots, and we got a whole bowl full.


The crispy friend tilapia was delicious, but the fried glass noodle with unagi was just about so-so.


This is a popular destination. Even on Saturday, when it was pouring down, there was always a queue out the door. This was not good for us; our table was seated near the door and we were freezing throughout!

When you feel like Vietnamese, it is a safe bet to come to Kingsland Road and visit one of the restaurants there. We had been to a couple of good restaurants which we were pleased with, but thought we would extend our list. This place is just down the road from Song Que and looked like a good option.

We arrived and we were seated at a tight table right next to another group, which seemed weird as there was plenty of room in the rest of the restaurant. The place quickly filled up and was actually full by the time we left.

The food itself was good, but just not as good as the other places we have been to so far. The beef in my pho was a little tough, but the soup itself was so nice. I had a bit of a cold going at the time, and this was a nice treat to help clear my sinuses.

My rating of 3 reflects that it's A-OK, but not as good as the other options around.