Lao Café

You're walking down Chandos Place—that tucked-away corner of Covent Garden where the theatre crowds thin out—and you spot this place doing exactly what it should: serving honest Lao food without any fuss. The menu reads like someone's personal collection of recipes, with som tam that actually has proper heat, larb that's worth the spice, and sticky rice that's never dry. It's bright and straightforward inside, the kind of spot where you're genuinely comfortable bringing mates for a midweek dinner or grabbing lunch between the National Gallery and a show.