We all understand by now that Thai cuisine is much, much more than just bright green curries, extremely sweet phad Thai, and copious amounts of spice.
Reiterating and reframing this fact has become a bit of a tired old refrain. Usually, this is followed by a digression into the country’s varied regional cuisine, its wider range of flavours beyond the oft-used “spicy, sour, sweet, salty” metric, and David Thompson’s influence on Thai eateries and British chefs in the city.
Rather, let’s get right in and explore our top picks for Thai cuisine in the city, regardless of your preference for British-style Thai cooking made with seasonal ingredients or meticulously reconstructed, flavourful dishes from the Kingdom. In either case, it’s available here in our guide to the greatest Thai restaurants and foods in London.
The King’s Cross, Supawan
Perfect for experiencing Phuket without having to take a 14-hour flight
It’s not necessarily necessary to view Thai food in the capital through the lenses of “hip” or “nu.” It doesn’t always have to be Tik-Tok promoting little dishes and interiors that are more about Instagram stories than patron comfort. Thus, we find ourselves in Kings Cross at Supawan, a sophisticated, subtle location with flavours that are decidedly not (the latter).
Here, owner and chef Wichet Khongphoon serves up dishes from his home province of Phuket in an opulent setting that may make you sneeze before the chilli and white pepper do. Don’t worry, it looks great and seems to go well with the descriptions of the fruity, floral cocktails you’ll be drinking soon (mine is called Love Don’t Be Shy, I’m Super Shy, naturally), and hibiscus-infused.
The miang Phuket is the quintessential Thai appetiser. Supawan’s version features grilled prawns, a galangal caramel, and complex dice of ginger, lime, peanuts, and more, all set atop a wild piper leaf, bringing the whole sweet-salty-spicy-sour thing together in a single bite. Fold, scrunch, wrap… This guy goes down in one, whatever you choose to do. Long after it’s gone, the tongue’s complexities continue to evolve.
Despite having lived in London for over 20 years, chef Khongboon’s cuisine memories of his childhood in southern Thailand are still incredibly vivid, which makes us very happy. The fact that you can buy pla thu yud sai here is a complete delight. This is a seafood dish from Phuket that is rarely encountered in other parts of Thailand, much less the UK. It involves carefully prepping deboned and hollowed-out mackerel, stuffing it with minced meat and red curry sauce, and then grilling it. The kids may give the “trekkers” a lot of praise, but we’ll just call it tasty. The stuffed chicken wings exhibit the same level of finesse.
Don’t pass on the famous “Dad’s beef curry,” which happily was created by Khongboon’s father and not yours or ours. If it’s on the menu, don’t miss it. Once chilled to room temperature in Phuket, the tastes of fresh galangal and toasted coconut in the curry paste come to light in this hearty bowl of thick, fragrant, and coconut-defined red curry. This is one to savour and is best served with lots of rice and a side of stir-fried morning glories, which tastes like it could cure anything. So take a seat back, place another Singha order, and give his flowers to the chef. It won’t take you long to locate some.
Leytonstone and Singburi
Perfect for the most difficult-to-schedule Thai restaurant in London…
Singburi is our absolute fave Thai restaurant in all of London and is a major player.
Singburi, once considered Leytonstone’s best-kept secret, has lost its status as a “hidden gem” in recent years, receiving recognition from publications like Time Out London (which named it “restaurant of the year” in 2021) and a plethora of other commendations from the city’s elite foodies.
It’s a family affair, cash only, bring your own alcohol, with chef Sirichai Kularbwong handling the stoves and his mother Thelma the room. The small restaurant has a rather chaotic vibe to it, which is just what you want from your beloved neighbourhood eatery. They don’t have a website and “begrudgingly take DMs for bookings” on Instagram.
The atmosphere is lively and the welcome is kind. While there is much to appreciate from the “regular” menu, which includes well-known Thai dishes like tom yum, phad Thai, and chicken satay skewers, the truly amazing food is found on the blackboard. Recent southern curry made with prawns and betel leaf was sumptuous, thick, and heavily spiced, while a take on pad grapao, Thailand’s favourite comfort dish, using minced mutton to great effect.
And there’s the moo krob (crispy pork), which is one of London’s best dishes that is cult-worthy and, quite simply, the best there is.
Plaza Khao Gaeng, West Broadway
Perfect for rice, curries, and anything spicy…
Since its inauguration in April of this year, the JKS-backed Arcade Food Hall has generated a lot of hype that is difficult to ignore.
Arcade Food Hall, located in the Centre Point building on New Oxford Street and only a short walk from Tottenham Court Road station, offers an extensive menu featuring eight different restaurant concepts. Additionally, there is a fully-fledged Southern Thai restaurant located on the mezzanine level above the communal dining area.
Plaza Khao Gaeng is that Southern Thai restaurant and it’s only been around for six months, but it serves some of the hottest, accurately constructed food from The Kingdom that you’ll find in London.
Even though a lot has been written about the extremely high amounts of chilli that are present here, the ingredients’ vibrancy is what really stands out. The massaman and chicken curries have freshly pressed coconut cream, which is a labour-intensive process that’s uncommon in the capital; the sour curry has garcinia fruit in addition to lime and tamarind; and the green peppercorns in the khua kling add a rasping heat that combines with the undulating presence of different fresh and dried chillies. It’s mystical.
Our lone grievance? Please give the tables more space to spread out since it’s tough to resist ordering everything on the menu.
Speaking of finding room, there’s sushi, smash burgers, shawarma, and more on the floor below, if you’ve managed to preserve room in your stomach for seconds.
Bangkok’s Chinatown cuisine is the speciality of the new Central London restaurant that the owners of Plaza Khao Gaeng have built. The place is named Speedboat Bar, and we are eager to check it out.
Bridge in London, Kin + Deum
Perfect for healthy, trendy Thai food near London Bridge
The restaurant’s name, Kin + Deum, which translates to “eat and drink” in Thai, is a kind, direct invitation that seems to match the healthful dishes, plant tonics, and laid-back atmosphere of the establishment.
It is a family-owned business. Under the direction of three chic Thai siblings from the Inngern family, the restaurant places a strong emphasis on balance and nutrition; for better or worse, it is completely gluten-free and doesn’t use MSG or refined carbohydrates. This is also reflected in the restaurant’s elegant yet understated decor.
The menu features meals from all around Thailand, including panang from the far south, khao soi curry noodle soup from the north, and laap salad from the northeast. The recipes are supposedly inspired by dishes from Bangkok. If you’re craving it, there’s even a Kin + Deum-style katsu curry available.
No matter where you’re from, the food is excellent here; the dishes have a subtle touch, but not at the expense of intense heat from the chillies or sharp acidity. Nope, everything is here, and it tastes really well.
Borough Market, Kolae
Perfect for perfectly cooked coconut curry skewers…
One of the most anticipated openings of the previous year was Kolae in Borough Market; on Instagram, almost every other loop had a room tour in various hues of cameo and a poetic description of a dirty martini made with pickled mango. Emojis of flame and chilli naturally ensued.
We won’t bore you with the standard monologue about Kolae being on the same team as the highly regarded Som Saa, even if you have been living under a half-coconut husk for the past year. This time, we’ll just quickly touch on the cooking technique that lends the restaurant its name: skewers marinated in a thick coconut cream curry before being cooked over coals is a common grilling method in Southern Thailand. At Kolae, this is most frequently used on squash, chicken, and mussels, where the marinade catches and caramelises into a stunning, uneven rust. Get messy and squeeze on some calamari.
Really, though, you should order more than just the restaurant’s signature dish. Kolae is mostly a celebration of coconut milk. Not the UHT, invulnerable material, that is. Instead, Kolae uses the freshly pressed kind, which has an unparalleled rich sweetness and is made daily. Savour the coconut cream in a rich, turmeric-heavy curry made with prawns and cumin leaf. The paste is pungent from the prawn paste and fruity-sharp from the abundance of pounded mouse shit chillies.
A full Thai meal, of course, is also a balanced one, so balance those heavier tones with something zesty and lively—grey mullet curry, with its tart flavour, is ideal. Not only does it contain tamarind and lime as souring ingredients, but it’s also extremely spicy—almost to the point of hallucinations—which makes it acidic. By now, the jasmine rice should be steaming hot and bubbling.
With wok flames licking the ceiling and pestles pounding, Kolae’s open kitchen is a hive of activity that you’ll want to be tripping with a view of. Take a seat on seats that are very similar to Cadbury’s Dairy Milk Buttons (you may want to consult a doctor about that), and savour the explosion of flavour that lies ahead—deeply complex and incredibly wonderful.
Shoreditch’s Som Saa
Perfect for crispy squid in the sea…
Gaining traction through pop-ups and supper clubs before crowdsourcing your way into permanent locations is a well-trod path to restaurant success, but Som Saa executed it with flair. Friends, fans, and financiers contributed £700,000, and a location on a busy street in East London was obtained. This was all made possible by the excellent grilled chicken, freshly made som tam salads, colourful laap, and other bold foods that were mostly (but not entirely) from northern Thailand.
Given that Thai cooking guru David Thompson trained the restaurant’s two chefs and founders, it makes sense why they are so assured in their execution. The ingredients are well chosen, the flavours are strong but well-balanced, and the spice is strong yet pervasive.
We would gladly come here just for a couple plates of their naem (grilled fermented pork paired with ginger and peanuts), so arrive early and enjoy a drink at the bar along with some of Som Saa’s delicious snacks.
However, to do so would be to lose out on the restaurant’s signature dish, deep-fried seabass with roasted rice powder and herbs, which has been on the menu for years due to its perennial appeal. It’s understandable why—it tastes great.
Goat Smoking in Shoreditch
Perfect for a rowdy, ramshackle Thai dinner party…
Ever since Smoking Goat’s wild, dilapidated days on Brewer Street in Soho, we have been enormous fans. You can be sure that, ever since the Thai barbecue restaurant moved to Shoreditch, the atmosphere is still wild, the chill factor is still high, and the smell of smoke is more pronounced—all in the nicest possible ways, of course.
This is nutrition meant to reenergise. The restaurant’s skill with offal is what keeps us going back, even though its Tamworth pork chop with spicy jaew dipping sauce and fish sauce chicken wings have earned them a cult following.
You may visit the Goat and enjoy a delicious meal just on these mouthwatering Laotian/Thai salads, since liver, heart, and kidney are frequently featured in various laap. It’s the perfect dinner for any time of day in the city—many rounds of sticky rice, a som tam salad, and a few cold ones.
In the end, this restaurant serves fantastic Thai drinking cuisine. As a result, Smoking Goat’s beverage menu and drinks are carefully chosen to compliment. Get a “Tray of Joy,” which includes exotic, world-traveling liqueurs like the watermelon liqueur from Serra Di Conti, the coco leaf liqueur from Amsterdam, and of course, the mekhong from Bangkok.
Soho’s Kiln
Perfect for a Thai-inspired celebration of the finest British ingredients…
Kiln, the second eatery from the previously mentioned Ben Chapman, is quite the sight, with bar seating facing embers, flames and clay pots. You feel as though you’ve left metropolitan London behind and are in a much hotter, more rural place.
The restaurant takes pride in its close-knit group of suppliers; seafood is directly procured from Cornwallian fishing boats every day, and heritage vegetables are given equal place on the menu alongside protein. That cuisine comes alive in game season with raw venison salads and minced laab curries made with wood pigeon or wild duck (which, incidentally, is available from April to October).
However, cull yaw, a kind of mutton from retired female sheep that has been fattened with rigorous welfare standards, is much better and available more reliably throughout the year. The meat has a remarkable depth of flavour, and in recent years, it has been featured on the menus of numerous well regarded London restaurants. It is frequently served at Kiln on grilled skewers with a dusting of cumin or as a collar chop with a hot dipping sauce. Simply put, quite tasty.
Chinatown’s Speedboat Bar
Perfect for sampling one of Bangkok’s most well-known delicacies…
The creator of this neon-lit jewel, which debuted in September 2022, is British chef Luke Farrell, a gifted food enthusiast who has spent years travelling between Thailand, London, and Dorset, where he has been studying Thai cuisine.
His first eatery, Plaza Khao Gaeng, opened in partnership with the ever-present JKS and was an immediate hit, receiving excellent reviews from nearly every national newspaper critic within months of its opening in the spring of last year.
Later in the year, Farrell opened his second establishment, Speedboat Bar, and it’s safe to say that this homage to Chinatown in Bangkok was an immediate success. Alternatively, rush the river at top speed.
The vibrant lights of Chinatown in Bangkok and the exhilarating activity of speedboat racing along the city’s canals, or ‘klongs’, serve as the inspiration for Speedboat Bar. The primary dining sections of the two-story restaurant have a practical, stainless steel design that is evocative of a Thai-Chinese shophouse, while the upstairs clubhouse bar is filled with signed speed boat racer photos and plays Thai pop, turbo folk, and molam music from speakers. Be advised that while you’re up there, it’s nearly hard to avoid necking a few jelly beans.
There’s a veracity to the flavours here, whether it’s in the chicken matchsticks (basically chicken wings halved lengthways) with a pert tangle of shredded green mango salad or the clams stir-fried in nahm prik pao, a mainstay of Bangkok Chinatown institutions like the imitable TK Seafood. Many of the native Thai ingredients and herbs used in the dishes are cultivated and grown at Farrell’s Dorset nursery, Ryewater.
This signature pays homage to the renowned Tom Yam Mama Noodles of the famed Jeh O Chula, which is located on the outskirts of Yarowat. As we’ve consumed the original dish many more times than we’d like to admit in public, we can genuinely state that Speedboat’s rendition is comparable.
Make room for the pineapple-filled pie, which pays homage to the Ezy Bake pies sold at 7/11 stores throughout Thailand. If you have a sweet tooth, place your order early in the dinner because these flaky babies sell out.
In short, Speedboat Bar is maybe the greatest thing this side of the Chao Phraya if you don’t have time to fly to Thailand in the upcoming months.
Farang and Highbury
Perfect for satisfying, energising Thai cuisine in North London
The popularity of Thai food in the capital has made the typical explanations superfluous. As you are surely aware, farang means “foreigner,” meals are meant to be shared, rice is the focal point of the meal, and regional variations in the cuisine are common.
However, the fact that we are all now fluent in the local tongue shouldn’t take away from how amazing the food is at Farang. Their deep-fried chicken wings, known as gai prik, are extremely delicious and their larger, sharing curries, which are cooked slowly, always have a lot of depth and energy while yet being firmly reassuring.
Just remember to get a side order of roti with roasted garlic butter and turmeric to soak up all the sauce! Happiness.
