The dish I can’t forget: Meedu Saad craves a Bò Lá Lót

I spent a lot of time in east London last year and, in between meetings, the Vietnamese restaurant Sông Quê Café on Kingsland Road became a regular stop. The dish I return for – sometimes ordering it simply to avoid the regret of missing out – is bò lá lót, described on the menu simply as “grilled beef wrapped in betel leaf”.

Minced beef, fragrantly seasoned, is tightly encased in the glossy leaf and grilled until the edges catch and char. As it cooks, the fat and sweet juices from the meat seep into the betel, softening it from within and giving the parcel a lacquered richness. The grill adds a delicate smokiness that lifts the whole thing, making each bite at once savoury, aromatic and faintly sweet.

As is customary, it arrives with an abundance of accompaniments: cooling rice noodles, crisp lettuce, and a bunch of herbs – mint, perilla, and Vietnamese coriander – ready to be layered and wrapped as you go. A bowl of nước chấm – that punchy, balanced dipping sauce – adds brightness and acidity, cutting through the richness and sharpening the flavours.

There are dishes you enjoy, and then there are dishes you make a point of ordering, every time, because you know you’ll think about them later if you don’t. For me, bò lá lót at Sông Quê Café is firmly in the latter camp – and I’ve yet to leave a table there without the unmistakable evidence that it’s been ordered.

Meedu Saad is the chef and co-owner of Impala