nuocmam

I had never been to Noucmam when I booked a table for lunch - I have just got a Taste London card so thought it looked like a great place to get a discounted meal.

When we found the restaurant we were actually so put off by the outside that we almost went elsewhere. It has this horribly garish sign outside which makes it look like it is going to be tacky and cheap inside. However, upon closer inspection, the place is actually very sophisticated, clean and stylish - which just goes to show that first impressions aren't always right!

We had vegetable gyoza and edamame beans, followed by lots of sushi which was beautifully made, really fresh and tasty. The service was very good - the staff were quietly attentive and made sure that our glasses of water were topped up.

I found out that they have karaoke booths downstairs that you can rent out - £100 gets you a booth for 1.5 hours, 12 beers, a couple of platters of sushi and some bowls of nibbles - what a fun party idea. They also do sushi-making classes which I have always wanted to do - so I have a feeling I will be returning to Noucmam sometime in the future!

3rd time there and I still like it!
This japanese/Vietnamese menu is interesting and different.

It's a good place to go with a small group of firends for dinner or with a bigger group for a karaoke extravaganza but I didn't dare trying that bit!

The food is very tasty and the dishes are beautifully presented, the atmosphere is very nice and relaxing and the staff id really trying hard to make sure the customers are happy which is always a good thing.

And you know what makes is even better....the 50% off food with the tastecard!!
I will definately be back for another girly dinner and wine!

Japanese and vietnamese cuisine at Nuocmam. The menu could be a bit clearer & have more personality. You have a variety of dishes to choose from but you're not really sure where the inspiration come from!

The food was great though. We tried a mix of starters which were really nice and tasty and we did the same for the mains: shared the seabass, chicken teriyaki and the lamb - all three main dishes were really gorgeous.

Staff is also really trying hard and the service was great. £35/person for starters, main and 2 bottle of wines. You can book a room for a Karaoke session. You won't even know it's there unless you venture downstairs to the loo. Then your ears might hurt...

They take the Taste London card which offer 50% off. I'll now have to test the Karaoke to fully rate this place!

Please also see
http://hungryinlondon.com/2010/05/nuocmam-west-end/

Vietnamese and Japanese fusion….? No it’s not, it’s awful!

N and I, after a not very successful shopping afternoon (I wonder who actually looks good in harem pants..), had booked a table at Nuocmam in Great Portland Street close to Oxford Circus. It was 50% off on Taste London and it claimed to serve Vietnamese cuisine.

When we arrived there we started to feel a bit dubious about the whole idea, as the sign at the door indicated that it was a “karaoke restaurant”. Scary!

Thankfully no karaoke while we were there – this would have made the whole experience even more unpleasant. The music that was played was annoying enough anyway: much too loud techno/dance/club music. Yes it was not promising.. but well, they deserve a chance we thought.

When we looked at the menu it became apparent that we should not expect authentic Vietnamese food here, so we avoided the classics like Vietnamese summer rolls or pho (who knows, they might have been really nice?) and went for what we thought were safer dishes. Little did we know..

When we ordered, we asked about the spiciness of the food. The clearly not Vietnamese waitress told us with full conviction that Vietnamese food is not spicy. Well… it’s not as spicy as Thai, but nevertheless they do have some fresh chili in most of their dishes as far as I know and have experienced. I decided against an argument with her though.

Clearly, neither the waiters nor the very eager manager and least of all the chef have ever been to Vietnam or Japan and have probably also never eaten in a Vietnamese or Japanese restaurant. This is the only excuse for the food we got served.

The Edamame beans with sashimi pepper (whatever this might be) (3.50) were literally swimming in oil.

The warm sake aubergine salad (5.50) was the worst plate of food I have eaten in a long time. N pointed out that we should actually get paid for eating this not the other way around. Greasy, tasteless and of slimy consistency it was truly horrific. Such food should never be allowed to leave the kitchen (it also looked disgusting).

The crab shu mai (4) - crab dumplings served with chili dip (of course without chili as Vietnamese food is not spicy.. ) made us hope not come down with food poisoning. Yuck! (we thankfully didn’t).

The mains were maybe slightly better considering that we had started very very far down. The Vietnamese chicken curry (8) was edible with nicely cooked tender chicken but it was far too salty and greasy.

The pan fried beef with light miso sauce (12) – was medium rare as requested. The meat was really not bad at all but the miso sauce was bland and again greasy with tasteless vegetables. God would I have been pissed off to pay full price for this!

and the rice… well it was overcooked.

We drank hot sake (as summer is gone again and I am constantly freezing :( ) – I am not a big sake connoisseur but I thought it was watery. We did empty it quickly though to wash down the unpleasant taste in our mouth and never got the second one that we had ordered (and really needed!).

Even though the waiters were friendly and they were really trying hard to please their customers – I can’t therefore judge the service very positively either.

Again a place that even with a half price offer is not worth going to. Without the offer we would have paid 50 pounds for the dinner, what a waste of money and calories!

Err I'm not sure having a menu for Vietnamese food and a menu for Japanese food counts as fusion food. None of the dishes on their menu offer a true fusion dish. Nuocmam just looks like a Vietnamese restaurant with a few sushi and sashimi dishes on their menu.

I went in for lunch just now, wanting to try somewhere different. There was only 1 couple in there, which was already a warning sign. I ordered the spicy herb salad with chicken, but was given a tofu vermicelli salad. I didn't want to wait for them to do up a new dish, so I got them to add chicken to my order. For a large, the portion wasn't quite big enough for me to stand as a main. The vermicelli was too dry and gave me the hiccups, there were some bizarre strands of pickled vegetable in the dish, almost as if they dropped in there by accident. Overall, the dish wasn't unpleasant but certainly not something I'd go back for.

Had dinner there last night, and NOM!!!

The food is really really good and the portions a decent size. We did order quite a lot of food, but thanks to the ever-wonderful tastelondon card, we had 50%! We ordered food chinese / mediterranean style: lots of starters for everyone to nibble from. It was great :)

My favourites were... the prawn (and something) dumplings and the beef salad. Delicious!! They also have a small selection of sushi, which were very good too.

Decor is simple and clean. White walls, dark furniture, and a laaaaarge tv in the back playing a screensaver of a fireplace. Very cool.

I had no idea this place existed, and would recommend it heartily.

I had dinner here a couple of weeks ago, after having found it through Taste London. It is in a great location very close to Oxford circus, so perfect for a quick dinner after a busy day shopping. It serves a mixture of japanese and vietnamese dishes. I had beef pho - fillet beef and noodles in a hot soup which was very tasty! It came with chillies, coriander and beansprouts in a dish on the side which you could add to the main dish according to taste. Our meal of 3 starters, 2 main dishes and a bottle of wine came to £38 after the TasteLondon discount