Had stewed beef, grilled lemongrass chicken and the spring rolls. Everything was amazing! Highly recommend! read more

Green Papaya - Grilled lemongrass chicken. Stewed beef noodles - Vietnamese Near Me - London, XGL

Bland, bland food. I can't for the life of me understand why anyone would rate the food so well. This is where I come to think "thank God I know good food as a NYer and it's not this." My friend and I went here last night based on previous positive reviews. We started with the summer rolls, which were fresh and decent, served with a small bowl of sauce. She ordered the red curry with chicken but was served the green curry instead. I got the stir fry pawns with tamarind sauce and sweet basil, although I was tempted by the baked salmon in banana leaf. Well.... maybe I should have gotten that instead. My friend said the chicken was too chewy and isn't a fan of green curry that much. Like my dish, she said the overall flavour was lacking. My dish was sweet with the tamarind... but that's about it. Overall flavourless. We got served straight away and it was relatively uncrowded at that point (6:20 pm.) It got more crowded as the night wore on. Won't be returning. I'll wait to return to NY for amazing Thai food. read more

What separates the Green papaya from the other Vietnamese restaurants on Mare St. is the fact that whole dining in experience is a little more sophisticated. The interior design is quite minimalistic and contemporary, which I find this makes a big difference to the overall experience. The service is relaxed yet personal, the tempo of the place is not too hectic, and the ambience is pleasant. The music is also something that is not akin to the other Vietnamese restaurants in the area. They seem to play and interesting mix of Eastern and Western music. A few charming early Beatles tunes went down well, putting everyone in good spirits. The food is delectable and well priced. I tried a beef and olive dish, as it is not something that you see on every Vietnamese menu. I was happy with my choice as it turned out to be a winning combination of ingredients. read more

Green Papaya - Vietnamese Near Me - London, XGL

We went to get a take away and ended up eating in. The staff were attentive enough, but distracted. Ahh the food... it was amazing compared to the gaggable experience I had this afternoon, but fell short of the mark set by other restaurants in the East London Massive. Bit... meh. I had fish cakes with morning glory which was enjoyable but one dimensional (ie salty); Z had some veggie curry that didn't sound amazing from her description and we shared some garlicky pak choi which was again, one dimensional and rather too gloopy. Much rathered have spent only £6 here. Meh. read more

I was the other half of Vicky L's dinner date. Her and Her reviews. We were recommended Green Papaya as we were told it had a fair amount of vegetarian dishes for a non seafood and pork eating urchin like myself. It was also described as a 'trendy Vietnamese'. Although pleasant enough inside and full of Hackney hipsters, it didn't seem particularly trend-worthy, just quite average. When I asked afterwards what was so 'trendy' about it, I was informed by my friend it was trendy because unlike other Vietnamese restaurants it had a simplified two sided menu instead of a bible sized menu. Eh? Usually I am indecisive about what to order, and would welcome this simplification but I have to admit nothing on the menu really struck me. There was indeed a decent sized vegetarian section (although not to the length I was led to believe), and I settled for a vegetarian curry which was palatable but not particularly striking. Vicky L and I shared 'fragrant rice' which did smell really good, and some garlic pak choi too. Meh aussi. Do not get me wrong, it was a decent enough meal, but not anywhere special I'd rush to go to again. Martina O gets it to a T - "it wasn't the most amazing meal I have ever had in my life but it wasn't bad either!". It wasn't bad. Hardly the most enticing reason to make your way to Mare Street to go eat there especially, but I wouldn't say no if I was super hungry and passing by. Sadly this is no where near as good as Que Viet on Kingsland Road. I'm sure that in their bible length menu (old and new testament combined), there is sure to be something to please the most picky pesky-tarian eater. read more

I'm going out on a limb here and bumping up Green Papaya from its slew of 3-star reviews. For a vegetarian, this place is heaven and the food did not disappoint. The highlight of the meal was definitely the smoked tofu (with seasonally appropriate asparagus!), which, by all accounts, tasted and acted like pork. I don't know how they did what they did to that tofu, but it was nothing short of amazing. When the bill came, we were laughing. 2 starters, 2 mains, a large portion of steamed rice, and 2 drinks for £25? Yes please, I'll be back. read more

After reading the reviews, I was so excited to try out a new Vietnamese restaurant different from the ones on Kingsland Road. I ordered the chicken pho and the presentation and portion was great...the Taste was Non Existent. Couldn't even try to add flavor with the usual hoisin sauce because they don't serve it. They explained they want to be different from other restaurants by not providing hoisin sauce as a condiment. The hot sauce wasn't even sriracha, it was the Encona brand you see at Tesco. Not to say sriracha hot sauce isn't sold at Tesco, but why not provide a hot sauce that is meant to complement the food? The flavor of the soup was bad. Also ordered the Seafood Hot Pot. I kept tasting it, thinking it would taste better if I taste another type of seafood....it just kept getting worse. To put it into words, it tasted like it came out of the frozen foods section out of the freezer aisle in a grocery market. The soup tasted bad and there was no flavor to the seafood. Just tasted like it was thawed and thrown in. Friend ordered the tofu dish (she's vegetarian), ate a couple bites and didn't finish it. Tasted like it was old and reheated from frozen foods as well. The flavor just did not taste like it was made in a kitchen...more like a factory. The only decent thing was the Summer Roll. No complaints there...it was good and original. Also, the staff is nice and friendly. We were very disappointed with the meal so we went to get pizza. read more

Green Papaya - Chicken Pho - Vietnamese Near Me - London, XGL

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Great food, and very cheap. Recommend the duck, very tasty, also the pancakes. Have eaten here many times and taken takeaway too, would recommend. read more

I came here recently and ordered the tofu in tomato sauce! it wasn't the most amazing meal I have ever had in my life but it wasn't bad either! The fried crispy squid which is served with a strange basil sauce is an interesting and tasty combination. I also saw a banana salad on the menu which I am going to try the next time I go there! read more

Love this place. The Xi'an menu was a nice surprise, very happy to have good Chinese food within walking distance from my flat. Everything tastes home-made and not dissimilar to how I might tackle the same recipes at home (as opposed to an overly greasy/salty restaurant version). read more

Located on the busy Mare Street in Hackney, Green Papaya is my local Vietnamese Restaurant. Small and cosy inside, the restaurant is filled with simple wooden tables & chairs, and the cheerful, warm atmosphere make it a popular choice. A blackboard displays the day's specials, and the bar is usually well stocked with a decent selection of wine and beer. As a vegetarian I often have problems with menus catering more for meat eaters. Green Papaya, as you would expect, has a great selection for veggies, a variety of seafood, tofu, veg, as well as meat dishes, enough to keep everyone happy. It's relaxed atmosphere makes for quite a refreshing change from some of the busier Shoreditch restaurants, but the small portion sizes are disappointing, and frankly, the Green Papaya salad isn't much to write home about. read more

Green Papaya - Vietnamese Near Me - London, XGL

We come here quite often but the broths and sauces can be quite salty. Sometimes they're REALLY salty. Last time we went everything was so salty we had trouble finishing some dishes and we passed out for the night right when we got home. However, I still enjoy this place and will make it a point to request little to no salt next time we go. Great items: -Spicy Fish Fillets with Salt, Garlic & Chilli (£5.95) - perfectly deep fried little pieces of white fish with a great complementary seasoning. Surprisingly, this is not that salty even though it says "salt" in the description! -Lamb cubes starter (don't remember the price. It's on the Specials menu) - I never really put lamb and Vietnamese cuisine together, but this dish is great Good items: - Slow Cooked Belly of Pork with Mushrooms & dried winter Vegetables (£7.50) - pork belly is really tender and sauce is super flavorful but we've stopped getting it recently because sometimes the pork is too fatty and/or the sauce is really salty - Stir Fried King Prawn with Ginger, Spring Onion & Lemon Grass (£8.95) - every time we've ordered this it has come out looking different than the time before. Don't know why but it still tastes good -Stir Fried Rice with Pork, Prawns & Chicken (£6.30) - pretty good. It's ground pork not whole pieces of pork. -Stir Fried Fresh Noodles with Bean Sprouts (£4.50) - simple and delicious. Sometimes really salty -Rice Stick Noodle Soup with Rare Beef (pho) (£7.20) - really generous with the beef portions. Soup is pretty good but again, quite salty (noticing a theme here??) Wouldn't order again: -Stir Fried Beef with Tomatoes, Spring Onions & Purple Basil (£6.95) - not sure about the tomatoes -Stir Fried Chicken Breast with a Hot/Sour Sauce, La Lot & Purple Basil (£7.50) - was very different. It was in this yellow sauce and had a very particular taste -Stir Fried Chicken Breast with Kohl Rabi, Black Fungi & Shitaki Mushrooms (£6.95) -the mushrooms were nice but the overall taste wasn't memorable and it was salty. I've never written the word "salty" so many times in such a short amount of time. I think you get the point. Beware if you don't have water readily available or have high blood pressure. read more

Good food for such an amazing value! Staff is friendly and attentive. Been here twice within a month and it's probably my favourite go to spot. The soft shell crab appetiser and summer rolls are really good too. read more

Green Papaya - Pho combination beef. Amazing broth - Vietnamese Near Me - London, XGL

The Green Papaya offers all of the fresh exotic flavours of Hackney's many Vietnamese influenced restaurants. The difference is that in this gem you can actually hear the conversations you are having with the people on your table. The staff are friendly and polite and you won't feel like you're being rushed out as soon as you've had your last bite. The place is always busy although I've never had to book and the staff can usually find a place for you. There is also an outdoor seating area for the summer months. Most main meals are between 6 and 8 pounds and the portions are fairly generous. Try the sweet potato cakes as an entree. read more

By far the best Vietnamese restaurant I've been to in East London. My friends and I go back repeatedly, and every dish I have tried has been mouth-wateringly brilliant. The prices are incredibly reasonable, and the staff are friendly, attentive and helpful- a world apart from the service you usually get in Vietnamese restaurants! I would thoroughly recommend the Green Papaya, I cannot fault it in any way. PS. The spicy squid rings are DIVINE! read more

Went there after seeing great reviews and recommendations. The food came incredibly quickly, like faster than me and my girlfriend managed to use a toilet. Service was good, atmosphere was quite busy but nice. Food, it was ok, nothing special. First time trying Pho so maybe I don't know that well but my Asian girlfriend does know. Didn't try the Xi'an menu, so maybe that's where the proposition lies. Not great, not bad. A-OK. Oh, almost forgot. Bloody metal chopsticks! I'm tempted to decrease the score purely because of that. I'm not a great chopstick user but even my Asian girlfriend found eating with them quite tricky. read more

My favourite restaurant in London, without any exception. The best Vietnamese food perhaps in the entire country. And service with a smile. Oh, and it's really really cheap too. Get a variety of dishes to share and you will not be disappointed. For me, their best dish is bahm tom, which I have not seen anywhere else in the capital (and when I ask for it, I get shrugs). It's basically shredded sweet potato surrounding some prawns (as though the potato is a nest), which is then deep-fried. It is the most exquisite thing I have tasted. I tend to pig out on these big time. Their rice is lovely and sticky, and their giant garlic and chilli prawns, OMG! Mark, who runs the gaff, is also a wonderful host. It's cheap, it's cheerful, and it's been running for years and years. Also a bit of a celebrity haunt. I once saw Chris Smith MP with his boyfriend Dorian there, while he was Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. Do you need any more endorsement than that? read more

Our favourite Vietnamese in Hackney, consistently good food, reasonably priced. We took our friends here for dinner on Friday night - it's lucky we did call up before to push the table back as they had no record of the booking we made earlier in the week. The starters were all wonderfully zingy and fresh, the chicken wings, prawns and squid with purple basil sauce - mmm. We shared 4 mains, the pick of the bunch being the rice noodles with BBQ pork belly. Total bill was £70 including a bottle of white wine. I've never had anything but a great meal here - check it out people. read more

This is quite a decent Vietnamese with a pleasant atmosphere and friendly service. The food is good, although not outstanding. We had a variety of vegetarian dishes, out of which the smoked tofu was quite unusual and I liked it a lot, while the rest of the food was average. Prices are decent. read more

I have a fond hope that the Vietnamese restaurants on Mare St may be cheaper and somehow more authentic than their Kingsland brethern. Diamonds in the rough as it were. However, despite trying several of them to date (more reviews to follow) I have yet to find anything that matches Tay Do Cafe or Sou Que to the South. Green Papaya is another disappointment. They offer a pretty decent menu, and the decor is nice, and the service attentive, but the food just doesn't seem to match. The smoked tofu is nice, but overall the dishes are just a bit bland/unexciting, and unfortunately I don't think I'll be back to give them further chances to prove my first impressions wrong. read more

This is our go to spot for Viet take out. Always go for this be chicken thighs and the slow cook pork belly. The pho is also consistently solid. read more

If you like tofu this is the place to be - the tofu starter was a totally different world from the tofu served with the mains - and both were equally fab. I also had the pork hotpot which was very good and hot - but more in terms of temperature than the spicy factor. This is not a byob restaurant but the wine is very well priced. I will be back soon. Friendly staff and well-executed dishes. read more

Visited here before a trip to the Hackney Empire to see a surprisingly excellent Lenny Henry in "Rudy's Rare Records". Anyway we had prawns with ginger and garlic, chicken with lemongrass, egg fried rice, and a large plate of special noodles - all delicious and under £30. read more

Popped by for dinner last month with much anticipation. Last year I moved away from London and was looking forward to eating here, having eaten there regularly over the previous 10 years. I was sorely sorely disappointed. The new layout/hipster bar down the middle, minimalist was a surprise, and should have alerted to me to what layed ahead. We were given menus and realized that the menus were significantly smaller. Instead of the plethora of interesting and delicious options they previously had, the menu was streamlined, with less options and, to top it all of, significantly MORE EXPENSIVE. Less choice, more price. The food was average as far as Vietnamese food in Hackney goes - one of our plates arrived cold, they had store-bought hot sauce, the tofu with chili was abysmal. After 10 years as an afficienado, I sadly now would say avoid this restaurant at all costs. read more

Nice people,nice food,very interesting interior design and environment. I had vermicelli and they were delicious.Definitely recommended. read more

To be honest, this is one of the worst Vietnamese dinners I've had, and I've had quite a few, having lived in Vietnam for 3 years. Their dishes were tasteless and covered in a slimy sauce that makes you walk away from dinner with a feeling of nausea, nothing like the refreshing and healthy feeling that Vietnamese food usually has. Their spring rolls were the saddest spring rolls I've ever seen. They weren't even rolls, just flat packages, covered in a thick dough, nothing that even resembled rice paper. Serving thai chilli sauce from the bottle was probably what turned me off the most about the dinner. Making your own sauce for spring rolls only takes a few minutes, please make some effort! I can't for the life of me figure out why this place was completely full and guests were actually queuing up inside the door. I'm fairly sure it wasn't our choice of dishes that was unfortunate (at least one of four dishes should be good, but it wasn't). If you want good Vietnamese food, you can easily find it on Kingsland Rd. I would not recommend a visit to the Green Papaya. read more

Free tap water, two glasses and a jug served with a smile. Great for a sober Sunday. Too many choices on the menu, it would be better if they reduced it to the staples. The green papaya salad was an obvious choice and it didn't disappoint. Slightly dubious about how quickly the food came out but it all tasted good and at the right temp! Free choc with the bill. read more

Huge disappointment!!! Staff was friendly and we sat right away. We ordered prawn crackers which were stale. Next spring rolls that had barely any filling and were far too greasy and hard. Tasted like they were from the frozen section of a grocery store. Main dishes (one chicken and one beef) smelled nauseating, were slimy with little taste, and didn't taste fresh at all. Seemed to have been reheated. Neither my boyfriend or I ate more than a few bites. Waitress was friendly but clearly overrun as all tables seemed to be getting impatient. The worst food I've had all summer... read more

fantastic vietnamese restaurant! friendly stuff, lots of vegetarian/vegan options and it's cheap too!! you really can't ask for more!

This place does the best squid rings out of all the veitnamese in east London, and a fantasic banana tree salad.. Not all the dishes are amazing but a good amount are! read more

Without a doubt the best Vietnamese in east london. The food is in a different league to it's neighbours and the atmosphere is more relaxing too. Try the salt and chilli tofu, it'll melt in your mouth. Prices are also very reasonable. read more