I come from a Viet/Chinese background so always love restaurants that serve up food that reminds me of what my parents cooked back when I was growing up. As a result, I was super excited to try out La Sen and sample their menu one Sunday afternoon and will share that experience with you here.
To start we ordered a couple drinks. The first drink we ordered was the traditional Vietnamese Coffee. This takes me back to my travels to Vietnam in the summer when it was hot and an ice cold coffee was just the thing that I needed to give myself a hit of energy from the caffeine and the sugar from the condensed milk, and cool down with the ice. Be warned however, it’s strong stuff so not for the faint hearted/if you are caffeine sensitive!
The second drink we ordered was coconut lime crush. This was another very refreshing drink. The coconut was nice and creamy and the flavour came out well, while the tangy lime cut through to stop it from being too heavy.
We ordered two noodle dishes and two mains. The first noodle dish we ordered was the cold Vermicelli bowl ‘La Sen All in one’ style which topped the noodles with Sugarcane Prawn, Pork Skewers, Spring Rolls, Grilled Pork Meat and Fresh vermicelli tossed in a tangy garlic fish sauce with lettuce, cucumber and pickled salad, and was garnished with sautéed spring onions, roasted peanuts, shallots and fresh herbs. This was a very refreshing dish and highly recommended as the weather gets hotter!
The second noodle dish that we ordered was the stir fried soft egg noodle with prawns, cuttlefish and fish and vegetables. This was a great dish. The noodles had the perfect amount of bite, and the flavour from the sauce was top notch. The seafood was fresh and there was a decent serve of veggies to make you feel good.
The first main we ordered was one of their house specials – the shaken beef; Flamed premium beef eye fillet wok tossed with butter, garlic, onions, capsicums, snow peas and black pepper. The beef was so so tender and delicious and the flavour of the dish was great – nice and peppery with a good amount of veggies again to balance out the dish.
The second main we ordered was the Basil duck; Tender duck fillet wok tossed with seasonal vegetable, basil & chilli. The star of this dish was not eh duck but the flavour from the basil. It was strong and penetrated the sauce of the dish well.
Overall, La Sen serves up some solid Viet food with some Chinese influence. Definitely give their drinks a go if you visit – you won’t regret it! They have a pretty extensive menu that is sure to provide something for everyone!
Loveatfirstbite_aus dined as guests of La Sen and Ompty Media. All opinions are our own.
Love at First Bite 