Lao Café
Laotian
60 Chandos Place, WC2N 4HG
£
With food originating from the heart of Luang Prabang, Laos Café was originally a pop up back in 2015 - what isn't these days? Based in Covent Garden, the cafe was a perfect spot to grab a bite to eat pre-theatre before going to see The Glass Menagerie at the Duke of York (which, by the way, is incredible and you must go and see it while you still have time). What at first impressed me about the cafe is the amount of Asian, and most likely Laotian, diners. Mum and I were the only two English people in the restaurant, which made me think that this stuff really was the real deal. All of the staff and chefs themselves were Laotian, and this didn't feel like your typical trendy brit version of international cuisine. Despite the wooden floors, caged lights and graffiti artwork on the wall, this place felt incredible homegrown and communal.
We started with ordering the Tumm (a papaya salad with crispy shrimp). When asked how much chilli 1-10 we originally thought this was on a scale, to which we responded 5 - we like it, but don't want an overload. We later realised that the waiter was asking us HOW MANY chillies we wanted put in the salad, to which we instantly decreased this to 3. The salad was fresh and would have been really tasty, but my oh my, was it spicy! Three raw chillies, seeds and all on a tiny plate of salad... I overestimated myself. Unfortunately, this did ruin it for me and I don't think we ended up finishing it.
We also ordered a Pla Pao Gluer (salt-grilled whole fish, served with aubergine dip, vermicelli noodles and fresh herbs), recommended for 2 or more. This was tasty, yes, but claiming it was for 2 or more people was a bit far fetched, the fish itself was overdone and therefore there was less of it to actually eat. We ended up having to order some additional Jee Moo (char-grilled pork skewers) which were tender and nice, but nothing really spectacular. The one thing which was memorably good about the meal was the Green Tea ice cream at the end, the perfect way to cool down my burning hot mouth and also some of the best tasting of it's kind.
Overall, Lao Cafe is a good place to try some traditional Laotian food, the staff and friendly and the venue is located well. However, I wouldn't expect a taste sensation here - and watch out for those chillies!
OVERALL RATING: ***
http://laocafe.co.uk/
