Tre Bambu

• Avenida (Linha Azul)
• €€€
• R. do Salitre 38, 1250-144

All good food trends travel successfully and Vietnamese is no different. We've already checked out a few in the last couple of years in Lisbon, and not all of them have succeeded either. Yet for those who yearn for a comforting pho, or endless fried delights, Tre Bambu has absolutely succeeded. The restaurant chain now occupies three sites in Lisbon, one in Marquês de Pombal, one in Cascais, and a beautiful site with serene outdoor dining room just off the main hustle and bustle of Avenida Liberdade.

The restaurant is tucked away on Rua do Salitre, and from the street appears to be any modern day restaurant appealing to the globally mobile with its dark wooden furniture and decor designed to match the cusine's region. However as you make your way all the way through to the back, you are greeted by a gorgeous open air dining space, giving a clear view of the night sky. Although maybe not great for a winter visit, this is one of the most magical outdoor dining spaces we've found in Lisbon.

Lovely as the garden is, we are still here to tell you about some great Vietnamese delights. First some simple and classic starters to share. Fried chicken wings (cánh gà rang muõi) with salt. Crispy and juicy bird with a delightful salty blast and more fried delights of nem, deep fried rolls mixed with pork, shrimp and vegetables. Think of a siu mai in a crispy casing. Both bar snacks coming with a more sweet than spicy chilli dipping sauce.

Being the keen heat seeking missiles that we are, instead of the traditional phó we ordered the bún bò huẽ, a spicy rice vermicelli hot soup with beef and pork. This gloriously huge bowl of soup came loaded with ingredients, with the freshness of coriander helping to cut through the gelatinous meatiness of the broth. This was a very fine bowl of food.

Second up was the bò xào sa tẽ, a stir fried beef with satay sauce and jasmine rice. Unlike the popularised version of satay found throughout Europe and North America where the focus is very much on the buttery peanut flavour, the satay sauce at Tre Bambu is pleasingly spicy, more typical of the original Indonesian approach. The stir fried meat packed all the umami of the nutty and spicy sauce it was drenched in, and the jasmine rice offered a lovely light absorber to the main event. Yet it was the side salas served with it which delivered the best flavour, with its sesame dressing practically booking you a first class seat to South East Asia and dropping you off in Ho Chi Minh.

Despite the hearty feast at this stage, we were convinced by the delightful waiting staff to indulge ourselves one last time in their signature pudding chè chuõi, a sweet coconut creme with tapioca, banana and yet more peanut. This was a pudding so silky you could make a neck tie from it.

The thirst for Vietnamese food as absolutely exploded in the last decade and clearly it is being surfed in Lisbon like the big waves of Nazare. Tre Bambu is doing an excellent version of it, in one of the best spots in the city.

Don't forget to order: Leave space at the end for the fresh palate cleansing pudding delight.

Drinks: Large bottle of water, a beer and a couple of glasses of white wine