Ever since David Thompson let Nahm slip away in 2012 (http://eatlikeushi.posthaven.com/nahm-london-07-2012) in order to make a better version in Bangkok, London has been seriously lacking a decent modern Thai restaurant. I do like the nearby Rosa's although I'd call that more classic than modern. Melbourne especially has exploded modern South-East Asian with Rice Papr Scrs (http://eatlikeushi.posthaven.com/rice-papr-scrs-melbourne-11-2014) being the first to top Tripadvisor. And moving up the scales, there is the ridiculously popular Chin Chin (http://eatlikeushi.posthaven.com/chin-chin-melbourne-05-2016) and the fine dining of Ezard (http://eatlikeushi.posthaven.com/ezard-melbourne-10-2012).
However my favourite restaurant of all time still remains the magnificent Longrain (http://eatlikeushi.posthaven.com/longrain-melbourne-10-2012, http://eatlikeushi.posthaven.com/longrain-melbourne-01-2017) and I still think I'll be forever chasing a place to match the intense flavours that Martin Boetz uses.
Could London finally be catching up with the extremely highly rated Som Saa? The flavours here definitely reminded me of David Thompson's restaurant and what I've made from Thai Food/Thai Street Food previously.
After not being able to wait long enough last time, coming in solo on a Wednesday evening was a smart move. I sat at the bar and was entertained by the lovely bartender Marta. I also met a nice dude from OC named Nick who was also dining solo at the bar next to me.
Dragon's Milk cocktail (sticky rice rum, tamarind, px sherry, coconut, condensed milk, salt, sesame) £9 was a lovely sweet, milky concoction that flowed down very easily. I've never heard of sticky rice rum before. It was only a little drink so would have preferred a taller glass to enjoy it more.
The food menu was difficult to pick from. Usually my gauge for places like this is either something with a palm sugar/chilli sauce, or a red curry to see how intense it is. Som Saa didn't have either of those (although the Pitt Cue red curry pork sausage would be the closest and I do like Pitt...) but 3 other dishes stood out clearly to me. A very friendly waitress (sounded like from NZ) suggested the curry and salad choice, and said would get me a complimentary taster of the third with a smile. So impressed.
- Stirfried Welsh mutton with snake beans, chillies, cumin leaf, holy basil - this was actually a half-serve rather than a taster. The mutton and cumin give the dish a deep earthiness, with a small amount of chilli heat. I associate this kind of flavour more with Muslim cooking and Northern China/Uyghur/Xinjiang usually rather than with Thai but was pleasantly surprised to see it on the menu (it isn't on the online menu currently);
- Crispy fermented fish salad with longans & orange chilli dressing £10 - the other salads were also appealing but green papaya salad has been pretty standard for me recently (admittedly moreso the Vietnamese version). The last time I had a Thai version included the tiny crabs which I spent all meal spitting out in between gasping for water due to chilli. This salad was more exciting sounding and turned out to be a very well balanced collection of papaya strands, coriander, lime and crisp fried fish. The sauce had good balance of fish sauce and sourness and a little chilli;
- Aromatic yellow curry of salted goat with potatoes, Thai shallots, cucumber "ajut" £15 - my most desired dish was a heavy, thick, grounded, coconut milk curry with tender goat meat. It had beautiful flavour and texture. A cucumber chilli relish added more sweetness and vinegar to the curry, although I'm not sure if I enjoyed it more before adding it to the mix. Regardless the dish was great;
- Sticky rice £3 - served in a plastic packet in a little bamboo container. Stylish and means it all comes out in a nicely formed ball. £3 is quite a lot for rice for 1 person, but they kindly gave me some to takeaway with my leftover curry. Maybe coconut rice may be on the menu next time...
Marta also gave us a small shot glass of Muay Thai Kick (Thai basil infused gin, Thai basil, kaffir lime leaf, basil seeds, lime) which was an excellent mild flavoured G&T with the strong Thai basil herb taste and some basil seed texture. Really great choice for next time.
The flavours here equal the chills I've had from Needoo's dry meat curry, Hopper's duck heart chukka and Dishoom's chicken pomegranate salad. Maybe not as much as Longrain's crispy fried pork hock in chilli caramel, but that is a salty sweet flavour explosion unrivalled by anything else. Nonetheless the combination of food and friendliness of the staff are simply the best I've had in London and possibly anywhere in the world.
I'll definitely be back for all of the dishes again, particularly the fish salad and goat curry. The soy braised beef cheek with chilli vinegar will certainly be tested someday, so will the Pitt Cue smoked red curry sausage and the dtom klong gung (or maybe they might do tom kai gung if I ask...)