Randomness Guide to London - Differences between Version 2 and Version 1 of Ladudu, NW6 1SD

Vietnamese restaurant and coffee shop in West Hampstead, just opposite the Thameslink station. They also do takeaway, and evening-only delivery.

The ambience is cosy but modern, with dark wood tables and dark brown pleather chairs. One long communal table seats twelve, and there's seating for another forty or so at a combination of normal chairs and tables, tall stools at a window counter looking out onto West End Lane, and a long L-shaped banquette lined with colourful cushions. Cut herbs sit in pots on the tables. An outline map of Vietnam is picked out in coffee beans on one wall, and a "did you know" sign informs the customer that Vietnam is one of the world's primary coffee exporters.

The menu (see links below for photos) includes all the usual favourites such as summer rolls, banh xeo (Vietnamese pancakes), banh mi (Vietnamese baguettes; until 5pm only), pho (beef noodle soup), and rice vermicelli. They also do weekly specials, which at the time of writing have recently included exciting things like chicken livers. In terms of drinks, they specialise in coffee (including Vietnamese iced coffee), but also do cocktails including Asian flavours like lychee and pandan.

Kake visited on a Wednesday afternoon in October 2014. There were six or seven other customers in when I arrived just before 3pm. Music was playing, not too loud, competing with the sound of conversation.

I went for the rice vermicelli with grilled pork and spring rolls (bún chả giò thịt nướng; £6.50 at the lunch special price) photo, which was pretty good. The grilled pork was a little chewy, but had good flavour. The spring rolls were fine, but I wished they'd been cut into slightly smaller pieces, as they were too large to eat in one bite. A full bottle of house-made dipping/seasoning sauce (nước mắm) was provided alongside.

Accessibility: No steps to get in. Accessible toilet (with baby change facilities) on same level. Other toilets are in the basement, down a flight of stairs with a couple of bends and a handrail on one side all the way down.

See also:

• Photos of the menu as of September 2014: 1, 2, 3, 4
• Time Out review
• Anna Chen Eats review
• CheChe's Blog review
• West Hampstead Life review

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