The Finest Of London At The Little Viet Kitchen

Blogger date nights are my favourite way of getting to know other bloggers better. Especially as May from Red Velvet London and I had seen quite a lot of each other at events, we felt it was about time we sat down and had a proper catch up.

May and I both love Vietnamese food so we knew exactly what cuisine we were going for, but where should we go? We had heard a lot about The Little Viet Kitchen over social media and it being a relatively new opening, we thought we should check it out.

A Wednesday evening tucked away in Angel was The Little Viet Kitchen. Small in its entirety but full of character and the finest Viet food in London. Yes. The finest!

We were the first ones in with a booking at 6:30pm, excited to see what the TLVK had to offer us. Leaving the cold behind and stepping into what was the most homely and well decorated restaurant. The pastel colours inviting you into with two hands as you would expect when visiting your grandmothers house for dinner.

Seated with in a cosy area in the corner, we studied the menus. I definitely saw a few things that I was squealing about deep inside, whilst to contain myself that little bit longer.

However, we had a little treat. The owner and chef of TLVK was on the floor for the first time, since she opened and she came over to give us a little hand with what to choose. However, first we wanted to hear all about how the TLVK started.

Not trained as a chef, never had been. Thuy’s journey all started from her love for food, cooking and making flavours work. Starting from her mothers kitchen, watching her mum cook, she grew into the food fanatic she is today. Her passion grew and grew, from which she started a supper club that took off like a storm. It was only then that she discovered she had a real talent for cooking whilst being creative with food and flavours. Thus, The Little Viet Kitchen was born. Bringing true Vietnamese food to the streets of Central London. How lucky are we?!

You know how I felt that instantly homely feel as I walked in? It is because Thuy used some of her own wedding decorations to decorate the restaurant. Big dreams, without big money. However, a big ambition and a drive to make things work always overcomes small blips like that. From that she turned the empty plot into the most beautiful themed restaurant. There is nothing stopping this woman, she is a true inspiration.

Thuy gave us her recommendations about what we should try. She suggested we go for one starter and one main and if we wanted more, we could come back and reorder. So that we did! We ordered Thuy’s special starter, the scotch prawn eggs.

Instead of the usual meat, the layer below the breadcrumb outer was just prawns crushed up with a little bit of seasoning with an runny yolk instead a hard boiled one. Simple yet so freaking delicious! May and I might have made loud noises of enjoyment that the couple sitting next to us just had to ask what we ordered, so they could have the same.

We still couldn’t decide what to drink at this point, a bit torn between having the Viet coffee that May recommended I tried or a cocktail. Thuy came over and suggested she get the bartender to make us a drink, a drink that had never been made for anyone yet and see if he could pull it off. Think Viet drip coffee crossed with a espresso martini. However, instead of vodka they used rum and condensed milk to make it sweeter.

Oh my god. Positively the best take on the espresso martini ever, probably because this was Viet style. It was creamy, sweet, warming and damn right delicious!

By this point, our mains had arrived. Again we followed Thuy’s recommendation and went for the Banh Xeo Crispy Pancake with lemongrass chicken.

This is such a fantastic concept, the true way of Viet dining using your hands and with the hearty portion sizes. Grab a red lettuce leaf, add some herbs like mint and coriander and tear off a piece of vegetable and chicken stuffed pancake, wrap it up, dip in sweet chilli sauce and bite. SO delicious.

As you can tell, we didn’t come all the way to TLVK to have just one starter and one main, so we called Thuy back over again and chose another starter and main. By this point, we had also finished our Viet espresso martini’s and were ready for some true Viet drip coffee.

Shortly after our next starter arrived…

We ordered the beef wrapped in perilla leaf because I have had it in every Vietnamese restaurant I have ever been to and love it so much. Safe to say it was just as good! Yum.

The second and last dish we ordered was a main course dish. A nice big bowl of hearty pho, where the broth was made out of six different cuts of beef and it was utterly divine. Especially in the colder weather, you appreciate nothing more than a bowl full of meat, noodles, vegetables and hot broth soup.

We were beyond full! Even with this in mind, we had a look at the dessert menu to see what was on offer but claimed defeat. As much as I wanted to try the gorgeous selection of macarons they had to offer. The first night that my dessert stomach failed me, but all the more reasons to go back again!

I’m so glad I got a chance to visit The Little Viet Kitchen with someone who is also really passionate about Viet food with a chance to meet a lady, owner and chef who is just truly extraordinary, with a real talent for cooking true Viet food.

If you haven’t been yet, you must get yourself booked in for a visit. I promise you, you will not regret it!!

Until next time…

The Little Viet Kitchen

2 Chapel Market

Angel

London

N1 9EZ

The Finest Of London At The Little Viet Kitchen

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