Sen Viet Vegan Restaurant — Restaurant in London

Fantastic place - truly one of the best meals I've ever had, be it in London or anywhere else. I visited Sen Viet with my Mom - we found Sen Viet by accident, strolling down Kingsland Road on Sunday and decided to pop in, tempted by a wide and detailed vegetarian/vegan menu. We are both vegetarian/vegan, so finding a place where you don't have to worry about not being able to order something is always a treat. On the other hand, "authentic" meals made vegan sometimes turn to be very disappointing, so there's always a little bit of an anxiety - will it live up to the expectations? Well, we shouldn't have worried at all. Our experience at Sen Viet was pure pleasure from the first minute to the last. The service is incredibly polite and welcoming. The interior - very clean and authentic, with beautifully designed tables and original decorations on the walls. Really makes you feel like you're dining somewhere in Vietnam, not in the heart of London ;) Our main struggle was deciding what to order. THE MENU IS INSANE! I could have easily orders three times as much (we still ended boxing things up - portions are well-sized, not too small but also not suspiciously big like in some places). In the end we decided to share some starters and lighter dishes - the mustard leaf rolls, the stuffed betel leaf, crispy omelette, papaya salad and "fish" cakes with some sides. There was not a single dish that didn't make us sigh in awe. EVERYTHING was delicious - freshly made, colorful, beautifully served and accompanied by scrumptious fresh veggies, fruit and amazing dressings. The mustard leaf wraps were super crunchy and stuffed with goodness, the dressing - insane. We loved the aromatic betel leaf wraps, the mushrooms in the pancake, hot & crispy "fish cakes". For me, personally though, the winner was the Papaya Salad - I literally cried tears of joy (slightly embarassing, but I'm not even kidding here), as its' vibrant flavors and juicy dressing brought me straight back to the times when I lived in Asia. Such a beautiful experience in the middle of these weird, confusing and restricting COVID-times... My Mom finished off with a beautiful lotus tea and mango spring roll dessert which were both great. We were also pleasantly surprised when asking for a check - price-wise, really great value for money. Last, but definitely not least, GREAT SERVICE. Our waitress, Seira, was the kindest, nicest server I've met in a really long time. She had an extensive knowledge of the menu, remembered the entire long order without noting down a thing, could answer all of our questions and suggest particular dishes without being pushy or directive. We didn't feel rushed when deciding, everything was served to us very quickly and while serving, the Staff described the dishes which is always a great addition to the experience. The table maintenance was also flawless (I'm in hospitality business myself and know very well that the devil is always in the details). We've had a lovely chat with Seira who, on top of being professional, turned out to be a so smart, witty and cute - keep it up!!! Finally, we also had a great, inspiring conversation with the Manager who told us about his experiences of eating vegetarian/vegan and shared some inspiring stories from his life, which really added to the already great experience. Overall - I can't imagine anything that would have made our stay at Sen Viet on Kingsland Road any better. Thank you SO MUCH guys and keep doing what you're doing. We can't wait to be back and bring friends over - both, the vegan and...

What is cinema? Is it art? Is it entertainment? Is it fantasy? Is it vice? Likewise, what does going to the restaurant mean to you? The traditionalists amongst you will argue that it's an experience and you would not be far from the truth.

You see, Sen Viet is an experience. It's a pleasure. A gateway to what is possible if you are creative, fun and imaginative with ingredient and flavour combinations.

Ordinarily, one asks the question about how a restaurant compares to other restaurants you have tried, especially carnivores who delight in asking herbivores whether meat-free restaurant x was as good as meat-filled restaurant y. Of course, the respectful reply would be to say that it is an unfair comparison. Apples to oranges, all that jazz. Yet, Sen Viet defies convention. There is no need to stand on ceremony here because you can and you should compare it to other restaurants - it really is that good.

Rarely has this author tasted food this good, and not just, "this is pretty decent grub, good", your author means "this is astoundingly good". From the informative menu that notifies you what ingredients are in each dish, you are impressed at the diversity and deliberateness of them. However it isn't until the food actually arrives and you taste it that you are really impressed. Sen Viet talks the talk and walks the walk; actually, forget it, it sprints the sprint.

Ally the excellent food with the fantastically friendly, humbly helpful staff and you can really understand why this restaurant has such a high rating. Food this tasty is dazzling, but coupled with such wonderful staff, Sen Viet is just starting to show-off and put other restaurants in the shade!

And so, back to the original question on what is cinema. The actual answer is that cinema isn't just an experience, it's all of the above. Similarly, Sen Viet is too for it is the epitome for what restaurants should aspire to be. It is artistic, entertaining and fantastical. In fact, it is vice too, because a restaurant should not be this good. ;)

(Now if only one's pictures...

Crispy rolls Vegetables cut finely. Accompanied by a sauce which perfectly compliments the dish. Sauce is almost sweet.

Salt and chilli fried tofu Seasoned excellently and fried so that the tofu is lovely and soft in the inside but not too viscous. Perfect level of spiciness. Sweet chilli sauce is not even needed for what is already a very tasty dish. We overall preferred this starter over the crispy rolls.

Coconut curry Arrived beautifully sizzling. My thoughts: Very creamy with mild flavours. Vegetables all cooked perfectly so that they're very soft without losing their flavour. My partner's thoughts: really tasty and rich flavours. Good all round. Preferred over the spicy noodle soup.

Spicy noodle soup We were disappointed that the spicy pho was discontinued and got this instead. You can really taste the variety of the root vegetables. Vegetables all cooked perfectly so that they're very soft without losing their flavour. Very tasty flavour to the vegetables too. Pleasantly surprised by the generous mixture of fake meats and tofu chunks. Not very hot at all, which isn't a complaint.

The mushrooms in each dish which had them were of superb quality.

The menus are really clear about which dishes are vegetarian or vegan, which is really convenient. Customer service was brilliant, staff readily came over when we needed them and they were polite and friendly. Lovely peaceful and comfortable atmosphere with beautiful decorations and...