Janis P.
180 Lavender Hill
London SW11 5TQ
This newly opened Vietnamese restaurant on Lavender Hill is a branch of a popular Shoreditch restaurant. It serves authentically cooked Vietnamese food in a simple, but nicely decorated setting on busy Lavender Hill, not far from Clapham Junction.
Opening Hours: Mon-Thurs: 12-3& 5-11, Fri-Sat 12-3 & 5-11.30, Sun 12-11
Website: Visit Mien Tay Vietnamese Restaurant website
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It’s unusual to find a good Vietnamese restaurant in a part of London other than Shoreditch, so I was really excited when I heard that a branch of a Shoreditch favourite was opening in our neighbourhood. The welcome when I arrived with my children aged 7, 5 and 3 was very friendly, and they happily accommodated our buggy. We chose to sit in the main dining area, which is up a few stairs, although we could have sat at the window table, which has step free access.
We were immediately brought a free basket of prawn crackers, which kept the children entertained while I had a good read of the interesting menu. All the Vietnamese classics are offered including a large selection of spring rolls, the national dish of pho (a beef stock soup) and bun (a warm noodle salad). They had a good selection of child friendly dishes liked special fried rice as well as more challenging options like frogs’ legs and eel. We started with classic Vietnamese spring rolls, which came with lettuce and sprigs of fresh herbs to wrap the rolls in, and a delicious dipping sauce. These went down extremely well with the children (minus the lettuce!) and we quickly demolished two portions.
For our main course, I ordered sizzling fried frogs’ legs (at the request of my adventurous five year old), special fried rice and a chargrilled prawn bun. The portions were fairly large, so we had more than enough food. The frogs’ legs were the highlight of the meal in my opinion, they were in a delicious, mild curry sauce made with coconut milk and lemon grass and the meat was really tender, easily falling off the bone. The bun came with three enormous prawns, the like of which I have never seen. They were nicely chargrilled, but disappointingly, didn’t have much flavour. The prawns came with rice noodles, which you mix with accompanying herbs, beansprouts, shredded lettuce and a delicious mild chilli sauce, to make a yummy salad. It was a just shame that the three year old spilt his glass of water on it.
For pudding, the children shared a seaweed jelly and mung bean coconut drink, which was a good deal more delicious than it sounds. I had a wonderful Vietnamese coffee, which they make very strong, top up with condensed milk and pour over crushed ice. The service throughout was lovely, with the staff happy to let the children watch them work and ask questions and a ‘please don’t worry, it’s fine’ brushing away my apologies about the awful mess we’d made. The meal was finished with complimentary oranges, the peel from which was turned into space rockets using the toothpicks on the table.
If you like Chinese food, but you’ve never tried Vietnamese please give it a go. It is lighter than Chinese food, with similarities to Thai food, and an emphasis on clean flavours and lots of fresh herbs. I am very excited that we now have an authentic Vietnamese restaurant in our neighbourhood, and we will definitely be back.