Soho, Thai Restaurant Guide

2021 Review: The “lovely Thai food” at these reliable cafés is “impressively authentic given that they are a chain” – “excellent value” and “fast”, if occasionally let down by “iffy service”. Founded in 2008 by Saiphin and Alex Moore, who inherited the name of their first East End site, the group has 18 branches in London and expanded to Liverpool, Manchester, Reading (delivery only) and Leeds following the sale of a majority stake to US investors. The couple also have two spin-offs, Lao Café in Covent Garden and the new Chinese noodle bar Hoh Sek in St Katharine Docks.

2021 Review: Pan Serirak and Mike Asavarut created this duo of Thai-influenced, late-2018 yearlings in Soho: Wild Rice is on the ground floor, and focuses on small plates to share (Thai flavours with seasonal British ingredients). Mamasan is the basement restaurant, offering street food dishes. Early feedback suggests it’s finding its feet, but worth a go: “we went and it was empty – I’m not sure why it wasn’t packed as it deserved to be”.

“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”.

2021 Review: The “lovely Thai food” at these reliable cafés is “impressively authentic given that they are a chain” – “excellent value” and “fast”, if occasionally let down by “iffy service”. Founded in 2008 by Saiphin and Alex Moore, who inherited the name of their first East End site, the group has 18 branches in London and expanded to Liverpool, Manchester, Reading (delivery only) and Leeds following the sale of a majority stake to US investors. The couple also have two spin-offs, Lao Café in Covent Garden and the new Chinese noodle bar Hoh Sek in St Katharine Docks.

With its “authentic Thai food” (the mother restaurant is in Bangkok), this international group is still a “go-to Thai brand in the capital” for many reporters, especially if you want an experience “more up-market than at many of its competitors”. Restaurateur Khun Patara Sila-On opened her first London branch in South Ken 33 years ago, and has added five more in central London, Hampstead and Wimbledon.

With its “authentic Thai food” (the mother restaurant is in Bangkok), this international group is still a “go-to Thai brand in the capital” for many reporters, especially if you want an experience “more up-market than at many of its competitors”. Restaurateur Khun Patara Sila-On opened her first London branch in South Ken 33 years ago, and has added five more in central London, Hampstead and Wimbledon.

Named to be reminiscent of the canals of Bangkok’s Chinatown, JKS Restaurants and chef Luke Farrell launch their second Thai concept together (the first was at the Arcade Food Hall) in September 2022 in Soho, to offer curries plus ‘fast and furious wok cookery with roasted meats and zingy seafood salads’, using UK-grown Thai herbs from Farrell’s Forest nursery.

Chef David Thompson has built international renown for his Thai cuisine, although his previous London venture of over a decade ago – Nahm (long RIP), in Belgravia’s swanky Halkin Hotel – never quite hit the mark (despite achieving a Michelin star). This Chinatown newcomer joins branches in Sydney, Perth and Dubai and incorporates a big basement, with a small ground-floor mezzanine and sizable exterior courtyard for outside dining. As you’d expect, this is a more down-to-earth formula than Belgravia’s was, with a more casual, street-food-style menu.