One of the five Indian restaurants in Surbiton's "curry quarter" (!) has closed and been replaced after much work by a Vietnamese - Madame Vy. We tried it out in its first week when there was a discount on food, but it did not yet have a full menu.
So we returned recently to give it a proper check-out. It's now a stylish place, with a cocktail bar at the front, walls nicely decorated with displays of plates, and a small outside area at the back. There were only a few other tables occupied on a mid-week lunch, so hopefully they do better in the evenings.
We start with a bottle of Chenin/Viognier at £30, which turns out to be Bee's Knees, an SA wine we get at home from Sunday Times. The range of starter's is interesting, but the main courses are more limited - a number of pho soups and a few goat dishes but only a few stir-fries.
For starters we have the prawn summer rolls and a chicken and pork crispy Vietnamese pancake. The rolls are lovely with fresh herbs and tasty prawns, though the rice paper wrapping is a little stodgy. The pancake is quite large with plenty of filling, though it isn't very evenly distributed.
For main course we venture to try one of the goat dishes - stir-fried with lemongrass - which came with rice and crispy seabream with mango sauce and vermicelli. The goat was very tender thankfully, in a rich sauce and enough chilli to be interesting. The sea bream, on the bone, was covered in mango strips that made filleting it more tricky, but it did come away from the bone well. Full of flavour too. We didn't explore desserts.
Service has been very friendly, explaining how to pronounce the name (Vee not Vie). We have a second bottle. There is a 5% "neighbourhood discount" (though we hadn't been asked where we were from) and a further 10% opening period discount, offset by a 10% service charge. So we end up with a bill of £112.
It's not a "wow" experience, but perfectly reasonable and a useful addition to the local scene.
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