The Venue

One thing you will notice in Vietnam is the incense, they burn it everywhere, high end restaurants, street food vendors, weird massage places that try to massage more than you paid for haha but the first thing that welcomed me was the incense at Lady Chu’s, it was identical to the ones I smelled during our travels, I literally bought about 300 sticks home with me and have just sparked one while writing this to get me in the zone, I just adore it.

On Saturday it was pretty hot, that with the incense, the food, all the plants and the venue took me straight back to the streets of Hanoi and this is only one reason I fell in love with Lady Chu’s.

Lady Chu spreads itself wide – there is a fairy small kitchen area, in what looks like a takeaway shop, and this is the kitchen for the entire venue I believe, it is then spread from that end along the street in front of a few other shops, with what looks like the VIP section up the other end, it is a little more posh, it is where the wonderful pictures are in my title image, I want them!! Of course we sat at that end haha

There is indoor and mostly outdoor seating and it has a lot of chairs and tables, the outdoor section Onika and I agreed had the best vibe, we both could have stayed there all afternoon, it gives off such wonderful positive energy and we even talked to our neighbours at another table and patted dogs as they walked by.

And just like Vietnam there are other shops in their area, among the tables and plants from one end to the next was a hairdressers, so oddly placed but it works.

The People

The only thing that let us down was the service, and not in a too bad way. The service area is quite large, and we could never find the waiter when we needed one.

I had to get up once to find one. That being said our waiter was lovely, knowledgable and very friendly, he was Indonesian and not Vietnamese – he hadn’t had a Vietnamese coffee in the mother country. The last thing I had was a Vietnamese coffee and I said it would this would be the true test as I can’t find a decent Vietnamese coffee in Australia. It is quite the addiction in Vietnam, and for some reason it does not effect me as it does in Australia – I can only drink decaf i Australia but in Vietnam I can speed off my brains on it haha.

I saw the legend herself once or twice but did not get to say hi, I think she was on deliveries.

The uniform is khaki and practical while still looking professional.

The patronage is mostly white people and I would say about 75% Potts Point locals, they are quite cashed up and this is not among the restaurant sector of Potts Point, there a few but not like down the hill a bit – locals would love this.

What we ordered…

🦐 BBQ whole Scampi

🐑 BBQ Free Range Lamb Cutlets w. dijon

🐟 Sashimi Kingfish Rice Paper Rolls

🥬 Truffled Spinach and Tofu Potsticker Dumplings

🍗 KFCHU chicken drummettes with spiced passionfruit sauce

🥞 Bánh Cuốn steamed rice crepes – minced pork

🦆 Fried Duck in Plum Sauce, Rice and Choy Sum

🐖 Caramelised Free Range Pork Belly, Rice & Greens

🥥 Iced Rambutan, Grass Jelly and Jackfruit with Coconut ice cream

☕️ Cà Phê Sữa đá – Iced Vietnamese Coffee

🍷 Joseph Chromy Pinot Gris Tasmania 2022

The Food

I will say it proudly, this is the best Vietnamese I have had in Australia, the most authentic to actually eating in Vietnam. I wouldn’t order the mains dishes if attending again in summer, they were quite heavy and not the best for hot days but all the little share dishes were the absolute best.

Bánh Cuốn was one of my favourite dishes in Vietnam and Lady Chu took me back there with this dish, I could just eat six plates of these and be happy and it wasn’t even my favourite dish haha. That went surprisingly to the scampi, the single best scampi I have eaten. It was so tender and wonderfully flavourful and at about two bites per scampi it has to be perfection for me to choose it as my fave.

Lady Chu’s chefs were on fire – the best Lamb Chops I have ever had, and my god I have eaten enough to make vegans hate me. They had the best fat and skin render on the outside and so perfectly tender on the inside, I will have these again.

Best Scampi and Lamb Chops I have eaten!!

The rice paper rolls were a waiter recommendation and I applaud him for the recommendation. The tofu dumplings were delish but nothing on the KF-Chu (clever), these drummettes were perfection with a passionfruit sauce that needs to be bottled.

Now I did love the Duck and the Pork Belly but both dishes were too heavy for the climate of the day, this is my fault, but after so many little tasty morsels these were too much, even reheated for dinner the broth from the pork had winter written all over it. Next time FISH!!

It was a memory to share the rambutan and jackfruit dessert with Onika, two fruits I live for – and ate so much in Vietnam.

And finally they did serve the best Vietnamese coffee, or as the Vietnamese refer to it “coffee,” I have had in Australia, I found the condensed milk a little light on the sweet. But 90% of Vietnamese is better than 90% of all Australian attempts.

In Conclusion

The conclusion was written in the food section…

“I will say it proudly, this is the best Vietnamese I have had in Australia, the most authentic to actually eating in Vietnam.”

Lady Chu loses half a point for us not being able to find a waiter but gains a bonus for taking me back to Vietnam, the vibe is perfection.

Thank you Lady Chu and to the PR who invited me, Jai Evans PR.

SCORE BREAKDOWN: 3/3 food, 1/2 service, 1/1 drinks, 1/1 venue & ambience, 1/1 cost, 1/1 toilets & 1/1 bonus

*** Spooning Australia was invited, with thanks, by the venue ***

All photographs are Copyrighted by Spooning Australia and Jason King – please feel free to share with full credit provided.

Lady Chu Details

Website

https://ladychu.com.au/

Phone

0409982048

Address

3 Roslyn St, Potts Point NSW 2011, Australia

Bookings

Yes

Pricing

Medium

Opening Hours

Wed, Thurs, Fri, Sat, Sun

10am — 9pm

Vegetarian Options
Yes

Takeaway
Yes

Local Delivery
Yes

Gluten-Free Options
Yes

Kid Friendly
Yes