When food bloggers meet, then venue always has to be carefully selected. Forget where’s convenient… the more important questions to ask are will the food look pretty and is there good lighting?
When Aftab and I decided we would meet for lunch we took all those important considerations into hand and settled on Vietnamese restaurant, The House of Ho in Soho. The choice of restaurant also fit rather neatly into my Soho Lunch series which I seem to have rather neglected. I was really excited that Kelly could also make it! Kelly and I seemed to have so much in common, not only did we both get married at the same time, we are also ladies that are partial to a bit of luxury…champagne and sushi nights particularly!
There are several menus at House of Ho and a sharing concept is encouraged, but as it was lunch time and only wanting a few light nibbles we decided to order own choices.
That’s just how we roll….
Another thing Kelly and I have in common is that we’re not big meat eaters, so I chose to start with coconut lemongrass steamed prawn rolls with vegetable noodles.
Kelly chose pickled vegetable rolls.
On the opposite side of the spectrum Aftab doesn’t like fish and went for Angus Fillet rolls instead. Aftab and I have formed an agreement that at the next blogger’s tea we’ll have to sit next to each other so I can have his salmon sandwiches and he’ll have my beef ones!
There was some talk of a bit of a group detox February but with my trip to Istanbul coming up, that’ll be a tricky for me. However, I am planning on making sure I get in a few healthy weeks between going to Turkey and South Africa, in order to prepare myself for the epic portions I’ve be told about in SA.
With detoxing on the mind we all chose one other light dish. For me it was salmon tartare topped with a quails egg and surrounded by a garnish of pistachio and chilli.
For Kelly, a light and bright seafood ceviche which included prawns, sea bass, scallops, mangosteen and finished with white truffle oil.
Aftab loved the smokiness of his glazed chicken wings. Despite a menu of pho on offer as well as some larger sharing plates, we were pleased we’d decided just to graze on a few things.
I wanted to finish with a tea and the waiter suggested I try a blood orange infusion which I’d never had before and I was surprised by just how much I liked it!
My fellow blogging buddies both ordered an iced coffee and it was at this point Felicia from
Dancing in Heels joined us. She’d been enjoying lunch down the street and popped in to say hi and show us to her favourite cupcake shop. Check out Aftab’s blog to find out more about our little jaunt to
Crumbs and Doilies! Vietnamese food was new to Aftab, and Kelly and I hadn’t had it ages, so it was a really lovely change. Actually we all thought House of Ho was fantastic and I’d definitely return plus I’d recommend it for very reasonably priced set menus. And the food looks pretty…and that’s the most important thing for food bloggers. Obviously!
House of Ho
57 -59 Old Compton Street
London
W1D 6HP
020 7287 0770
Edit: This restaurant is now called Ho Modern Vietname
