Harden's survey result
Summary
“So cool, but with amazing food!” – Ben Chapman’s “bustling” Thai BBQ in Soho continues to deliver exceptional value. With a “cramped but lovely vibe”, “the best seats in the house are at the back where you can sit and watch the chefs cook over charcoal” (although “your clothes may be smelly afterwards due to the smoke from the open kitchen”). “Knowledgeable staff” provide a “menu full of things you never see at your average Thai restaurant, with stunning flavours” (and with “spice levels just on the right side of incendiary”).
Summary
“Exciting”, “astonishingly good” and “incredible value” Thai-inspired BBQ fuels nothing but adulatory reviews for Ben Chapman’s “incomparable” Soho destination (“we licked the plates clean and bemoaned the fact Manchester has nothing like this!”). This is “casual, bar-counter eating at its best”, but the “buzzy, loud atmosphere is not conducive to a leisurely meal”. Sitting upstairs “at the grill, watching the chefs cooking over the open flames is the highlight”; “downstairs is a bit grim and windowless” by comparison. “It’s too good to be an occasional place, but the queues make it impossible for frequent visits” (and “with no booking, you have to chance it; and it can be a long queue, glaring at people to hurry up!)”. Top Menu Tips – “the glass noodles, sausage, chicken glazing, larb squid and Cornish greens are exceptional”.
Summary
“The best Thai food in London?”… “The most authentic Thai food outside Bangkok?” – after five years, Ben Chapman’s charcoal-fired Soho haunt and its legion of fans show no sign of slackening standards or waning enthusiasm. Better still, it offers “ridiculous value for some of the best food ever”, along with a “buzzy atmosphere”. The inevitable drawback in such a small and central hit venue is “horrendous queues”. Top Tip: “the pot-cooked noodles are as good as everyone says”.
Summary
“Stonkingly good SE Asian small-plates” – “spiced to perfection and tasty beyond words” – are delivered from the “more-than-interesting menu” of Ben Chapman’s “brilliant value” Thai BBQ (sibling to Shoreditch’s Smoking Goat): “it’s the kind of punchy and earthy food that you’d normally only encounter in Thailand in non-touristy places”. “Thoughtful” staff help manage the “tiny” space – a “fun”, “very, very busy” and “crowded” Soho environment, “blending in a bit of hipster attitude”. It’s “hard to get a seat”, though, and “there can be some very long waiting times”. Top Tip – eating perched at the ground floor counter is a good option: it’s “fascinating watching the chefs doing their stuff”.
For 33 years we've been curating reviews of the UK's most notable restaurant. In a typical year, diners submit over 50,000 reviews to create the most authoritative restaurant guide in the UK. Each year, the guide is re-written from scratch based on this survey (although for the 2021 edition, reviews are little changed from 2020 as no survey could run for that year).
Have you eaten at Kiln?
58 Brewer Street, London, W1F 9TL
Restaurant details
Kiln Restaurant Diner Reviews
"We went for a small lunch. The food was quite good. The livers were very spicy. The chicken was good. Radish salad was also quite nice. The small skewers of lamb were just OK. Very friendly, attentive and helpful service. "
"Visceral cooking on flames. A sensory experience, with food that is also exceptional. A pork chop that will haunt me with its fatty char and savoury flesh. Dark gloomy interior with fashionable service. A unique and amazing destination. Queuing a pain but then I am old. "
"Back to one of my favourites. The menu wasn't very different from before: the Chicken & Soy is still one of my favourite dishes ever, but even though the price of everything had gone up I felt there was a little less in every serving, sadly."
"Downstairs functional but not lovely. Food really good, but service was superb in that modern relaxed manner."
"One of the best meals I’ve had in the last year. Best seats in the house are at the back where you can sit and watch the chefs cook over charcoal."
"Stunning food - great value. I’m not a fan of the counter but people who are would rate it higher than 3 for ambience "
Prices
 Drinks |
|
|---|---|
| Wine per bottle | £25.00 |
| Filter Coffee | £4.50 |
 Extras |
|
|---|---|
| Bread | £5.00 |
| Service | 12.50% |
58 Brewer Street, London, W1F 9TL
Opening hours
| Monday | 12 pm‑3 pm, 5 pm‑11 pm |
| Tuesday | 12 pm‑3 pm, 5 pm‑11 pm |
| Wednesday | 12 pm‑3 pm, 5 pm‑11 pm |
| Thursday | 12 pm‑3 pm, 5 pm‑11 pm |
| Friday | 12 pm‑11 pm |
| Saturday | 12 pm‑11 pm |
| Sunday | 12 pm‑9 pm |
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