Ladudu in West Hampstead

Ladudu

I love Twitter. About noon today when both the Englishman and I were busily working away in our separate rooms at home, I had an email from him, ‘Let’s go for lunch.’  He’d seen a Tweet via West Hampstead that a new Vietnamese place on West End Lane, Ladudu, had a special lunch offer: a noodle soup and drink for £7-00. It was perfect as I really needed to get out of the house for an hour and The Englishman needed to catch a bus into town from West End Lane.

Ladudu is just off the West Hampstead tube and is a room kitted out with a combination of brown sofas and stools, with low slung lighting. My heart sank a bit at the decor – it looked more like a furniture store than a restaurant.

But as soon as the staff showed us to our table and the friendly owner came over to take our order, I settled down. I decided to have the vegetable noodle soup and the Englishman the beef one. We both opted for the mixed fruit juice, which was freshly pressed carrot, apple and orange. It was really good, not too carroty, or sweet.

When my noodle soup arrived there was a wonderful scent of lemongrass and spices; I later realised there was cardamon in the broth as well as the two tiny quils’ eggs nestled amongst strips of fried tofu, thinly sliced celery and beansprouts. The Englishman finished all of his cinnamon spiced soup in record time and said it was delicious.

Beef rice noodle soup

After the meal I felt so healthy – something I haven’t been feeling lately.

The chef and owner of this little Vietnamese place in NW6, Teresa Le, was delighted to hear we’d seen the lunch offer though Twitter. ‘It works then,’ she smiled. It does definitely work and what’s more we’ll definitely be back. Especially if there are more unbeatable offers like this one.

Ladudu
152 West End Lane
West Hampstead
London
NW6 1SD
Tel: 020 7372 3217
Open 7 days a week (closed on Bank holiday 29th August 2011)

Food served from:
lunch : 11am – 3.30pm 
dinner : 6.30pm – 10.30pm