Vnam Cafe review

Manchester has another Vietnamese outlet.

Last month, Bubbles got Confidential all excited with its delicate summer rolls and fresh zingy salads, introducing the city to mouthwatering signature flavours like lemongrass and pho broth.

The quail opened our eyes to barbecuing Vietnamese style. The juicy tenderness of these birds brought back memories of roast baby pigeons from Hong Kong.

Open less than a month and situated at the very top end of Oldham Road, Vnam Cafe is Manchester's latest family-run cafe boasting authentic meals but still hedging its bets with a section for chips, burgers and pies. That said, it is also Manchester's latest hidden gem.

On closer inspection, apart from a brief lapse into 'English' 'meals', the menu is a compact and focused offering of classic Vietnamese dishes. No sweet and sour porks to be found here.

We started with summer rolls (£3), Vietnamese spring rolls (£4), and barbecued quails (£6). Summer rolls were enjoyable and stuffed with fresh lettuce, Viet-style pork and cellophane noodles, but a little more prawn would not have gone amiss. The fried variation had Chinese mushrooms, carrots and ground pork as well as noodles. Again, lovely but we would've preferred rice papers that blister when they're fried rather than the Chinese-stype flour wrappers used.

The quail opened our eyes to barbecuing Vietnamese style. Meats are marinated with lemongrass, garlic, shallots, chilli, sugar and fish sauce and barbecued to give that smoky flavour. The resulting juicy tenderness of these birds brought back memories of roast baby pigeons from Hong Kong. It's a similar technique of marinating then grilling on a rotisserie before dunking into a dynamite pot of lemon juice, pepper and salt that makes the diner abandon all decorum and make lip smacking-noises whilst eating with fingers.

Our mains of BBQ lamb chops (£5) were equally tender, with specks of lemongrass and herbs dotting the fatty meat making for more messy but worthwhile eating. The accompanying rice and salad were livened up by the sweet, garlicy chilli fish sauce. We moved onto savoury pancakes (£5) made from rice flour and coconut milk and fried until crispy before being stuffed with pork, prawns and beansprouts. Nice, but not exciting given the amount of oil involved.

And lastly, there was the spicy beef noodle soup (£6). Unlike the pho which is subtly flavoured with cloves and star anise and served with thin noodles, this bun bo hue had round translucent noodles and was all about the lemongrass and fermented shrimp paste. We piled on the beansprouts, coriander and Thai basil, and topped the mound with chillies and a squirt of lime – it was a steamy, warmingly-spiced affair.

As our plates were cleared we were offered Viet-style iced coffee (£2.50) – a cool cocktail equivalent of the ordinary Vietnamese coffee, typically made with a specialist filter and condensed milk at the bottom. It was strong, but you wouldn't notice for the ice and the sweetness.

As we left we quizzed the manager on having an 'English' menu. Quite matter-of-factly he pointed across the road and explained it was for the Royal Mail staff. He recommended the full English and promised there wouldn't be any fish sauce or coriander in it. To each their own, but we'll stick with the Viet dishes, thank you very much.

With just under 40 covers, the place is not yet known outside the staff's friends and family. The decor is nothing to write home about but like most other oriental restaurants, you go for the food. Here, they throw in friendly service with a North Manchester accent too. I'd get to Vnam Cafe quick before the posties discover it.

Venues are rated against the best examples of their kind: fine dining against the best fine dining, cafes against the best cafes. Following on from this the scores represent: 1-5 saw your leg off and eat it, 6-9 get a DVD, 10-11 if you must, 12-13 if you’re passing,14-15 worth a trip,16-17 very good, 17-18 exceptional, 19 pure quality, 20 perfect. More than 20: Gordo gets carried away