5 Dishes to Try at Lai Rai

Lai Rai is a new school Vietnamese restaurant in Peckham with a Michelin Bib Gourmand. The name, if you’re wondering, means “little by little” – encouragement to kick back, drink a few beers, eat a few snacks, and enjoy life in laidback Vietnamese fashion. Here’s what to eat when you go, according to head chef, Alex Lê.

Try them all – with 30% off total bill on the CODE app.

Prawn lollies

A “day one-r”. It was created with the concept of the restaurant, is probably best representative of our brand, and is also a bestseller, so I can’t ever take it off the menu.  Traditionally you get chạo cốm roadside in Vietnam. They are shaped prawn paste with green rice flakes running through, then popped on a stick or lemongrass skewer and grilled or fried. Our version is a cute version of that really.

Pork neck skewers

We get in a pork neck joint at the beginning of the week, very fatty meat, and marinate it in lemongrass, shallots and garlic, then grill it to order. Super basic but very roadside, very drinking-food-y. In general we try to keep on the more traditional side and any flair we save for the specials.

Squid and pomelo salad

Pretty much my favourite on the menu, especially in this weather. It’s quite simple. We get the squid in, marinate it in coconut cream and turmeric. The salad itself is with Vietnamese pomelo, tons of herbs, some nice aromatic bits, and a classic Vietnamese dressing with a bit of shrimp pasta kick, and it’s absolutely perfect.

Crispy tofu with tamarind roasted chilli jam

You get crispy fried tofu with spring onion or scallion oil everywhere in the bars in Vietnam which is what we’re trying to emulate. We’ve just got a little sauce on there, a tamarind roasted chilli jam, just to zing it up and flesh it out a bit because I think people do struggle with just a pile of tofu because it’s quite plain.

Fresh mussels, creamy coconut broth

In Vietnam, you sit on the street and you’ve got these tanks of different kidneys of shellfish and different types of snails, so this is that guy basically. We make a very light aromatic broth with coconut cream and absolutely sh*tloads of lemongrass and lime leaf and that’s it really, with lovely mussels from Cornwall.