I have decided to care about the Michelin Guide this year and try to aim for my meals out to be a bit of a higher standard rather than randomly heading out with no real aim and ending up eating at a very average place for too much money.
This is the first restaurant I’ve booked as a recommendation from the Michelin Guide and I’m easing us in with the “inspectors favourites for good value” distinction, rather than any actual stars (we’re paying for a wedding this year).
Local enough to my home in Streatham is Lai Rai, a tiny little Vietnamese spot on Rye Lane in Peckham. Not the best area of London but still on my regular go-to list thanks to their famous Rye Lane Bagels (IYKYK), so we headed over after work on Friday and it looks pretty unremarkable at first glance but inside it immediately feels very trendy – a bit too cool for me tbh – but the staff were super friendly and made us feel very welcome!
We took one of the high tables and ordered one Vietnamese beer Saigon (£7) and one ‘Pink Fizz’ lambrusco (£7) while we looked over their tiny menu. I actually like a small menu and Lai Rai means “little by little” so this was not a bad thing! It’s recommended to order 3 small dishes, 2 mains and 2 sides so we did and we were told to expect the food to come out when it’s ready.
First arrival to our table:
- Chao Com – the famous prawn lollies with fragrant young rice, sugarcane (to be used as a palate cleanser after you have eaten the dish), fish sauce satay & fresh herb sauce (£4 per lolly). These were honestly HEAVEN – I could’ve eaten 10 more at least. Very rich flavour and great presentation.
- Goi Tai Heo Du Du – papaya salad with braised pig ear, pineapple, viet herbs & peanuts (£11). I’m never a huge fan of a cold salad at a restaurant BUT this was on another level, super filling and with the perfect kick. It was spicy but not TOO spicy that it ruined the other flavours. I personally wasn’t a HUGE fan of the pig ear texture but there wasn’t a lot of it in the salad so most mouthfuls were perfect for me! This was one of my top 3 dishes along with the prawn lollies.
Next up, in round 2, we had:
- Ga Gion Cao Nguyen – crispy chicken thigh with fresh herb sauce (£8.5) This was better than I was expecting and very moreish. I would say quite rich so probably couldn’t have eaten a lot more but the portion we had was perfect to get a good taste!
- Cai Chua Ngao Ot – pickled chilli mustard greens (£3.5). I wasn’t a huge fan of this – cold and pickled are not really my bad but it was still edible and a good contrast with the chicken thighs!
Next up was always going to be a controversial one for me. Mussels. The first time I ever met my future in-laws, we went for a meal and as soon as my food came out, I saw there were mussels on the plate and I knew I was going to have to eat them – bc first impressions count. I swallowed them quickly without biting and with minimal tasting and have tried not to think about them again.
HOWEVER, I was willing to give them another go at Lai Rai. Our third round included:
- Vem Cot Dua – fresh mussels in a creamy coconut broth with lemongrass and viet hot mint (£18). They were actually pretty nice – I ate about 6. And dipped my sticky rice into the broth. Not a lover yet but this has made me willing to try again!
- Xoi Vo Chien – fried coconut mung bean sticky rice (£4). I saw something online before arriving that looked deep fried and delicious but couldn’t work out what it must be from the menu and definitely didn’t expect it to be the sticky rice. Surprise, it was! It was really tasty and crispy with a gooey sticky rice middle. Glad we accidentally included it!
- Another Saigon beer (£7) and ‘Pink Fizz’ (£7)
Finally, the star of the show arrived!…
- Bit Tet Bo Luc Lac – grilled bavette steak with oyster sauce, white pepper & herb butter (£24). The star of the show for very good reason. The steak was perfectly cooked, looked amazing, tasted incredible and melted in your mouth along with the delicious butter! 10/10 – the top dish of the night along with very close seconds, the papaya salad and prawn lollies!
Total spend = £122 with service charge which was more than I had anticipated but it was really good food at a much higher standard than our usual Friday night dinners and in a much more interesting setting.
Overall I loved the food and venue and would definitely come back but at the price and with the size of the menu/number of options, it probably won’t be for quite a while… Hopefully when the menu has changed to be able to try something new!
Definitely converted me to using the Michelin Guide app to search for food spots though (pray for my bank balance)! Can’t wait for my next recommended trip!
North Fish Big SeA 
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