La Sen, Randwick

La Sen is a Vietnamese restaurant located in Randwick. It has such an extensive menu so there's something for everyone. On this particular lunch, I decide to order a few other dishes that I haven't tried before.

Matt and I absolutely love Vietnamese food because of the fresh, tangy and light flavours. We sit outside on this particular day and watch the world pass by. We sip on our icey drinks to cool down. Matt orders a lime and coconut while I opt for the watermelon crush.

We start off with spring rolls ($9.90). I've had these before but I couldn't resist as I really loved their crunchy texture and have fond memories. There's a few choices of spring rolls but I opt for the pork spring rolls with taro, carrot, mushroom and mung bean noodles. The light and tangy sauce goes well with the spring rolls.

For something different, we order the Quail ($17.90) which has four large quail pieces which are wok fried with butter, salt and pepper, diced capsicum and shallots. Matt loves the quail in particular the simple and yet delicious crunchy toppings of capsicum and shallots.  Matt always refers to quail as baby chickens which always makes me smirk.

A well known and famous dish in Vietnam are the pork skewers "Nem Nuong" ($8.90). There's a random guy sitting at the table next to us who's never seen these before and asks us why we would order these as they don't look appetising. I tell him that they are pork skewers and quite famous in Vietnam.  Matt's had nem nuong several times before and happily devours the skewers. They are incredibly flavoursome. I'd recommend trying them if you haven't before.

Having fallen in love with another Vietnamese dish I had at I Love Pho in Crows Nest  - the prawn banh cuon, I had to order this dish again to compare. I ordered the prawn and wood eat mushroom banh cuon ($8.90).  They serve up the pork mince version instead which I don't mind and didn't raise with the venue. The dish was enjoyable but was missing the moreish soft rice noodles that I Love Pho had. 

Finally for something different, Matt and I try the salt and pepper eggplant ($16.50). I really enjoy this dish with the light batter. Texture-wise, this dish was amazing and the soft eggplant was enjoyable to eat. I've never had this dish before and I'm glad I ordered it. It was a great way to sneak the vegetable into the meal.

Summary: Overall, I had a really nice meal at La Sen. The locals in Randwick are lucky to have a nice Vietnamese restaurant with an extensive menu to order from.

My favourite dishes were the spring rolls, nem nuong and the salt and pepper eggplant. Matt really enjoyed the quail. Check it out!

Price: $30-40 per person

Location: 41 Perouse Rd, Randwick

Opening Hours: 
11:30am to 10pm Monday to Thursday
Friday to Sunday 11am to 10pm


Weekend Food Escapes dined as guests of the venue or their representatives. All photos, opinions and words are my own.