One of my most memorable meals last year was a solo tasting menu of riotously spicy Thai cooking at Plaza Khao Gaeng in London’s Centre Point building. I loved their set menu, which offered a solo diner like myself the opportunity to sample a broad range of their menu for a very reasonable £35.
With Speedboat Bar, Plaza Khao Gaeng’s sibling in Soho, recently ranking at 57 in the National Restaurant Awards, it was my first port of call for lunch after hopping off the train from Cardiff. And with their own set menu offering a selection of their Thai dishes for £35, I didn’t even need to browse the menu in advance. Or did I?
Much like Plaza Khao Gaeng, Speedboat Bar's décor does a superb job at creating a transportive experience, in this case to Bangkok's Chinatown. There are polished steel table tops, vinyl upholstered seating, retro floral print curtains and an upstairs late-night bar with a pool table.
However, my excitement at ordering set menu A, which includes dishes such as minced beef with holy basil, egg noodles with red roast pork and wontons, and winter melon and egg plant curry, was short-lived as I was informed that it wasn’t available for tables of one.
However, my excitement at ordering set menu A, which includes dishes such as minced beef with holy basil, egg noodles with red roast pork and wontons, and winter melon and egg plant curry, was short-lived as I was informed that it wasn’t available for tables of one.
The lack of a disclaimer on the menu indicating a “minimum two people” and the inconsistency between the two sibling restaurants seems a bit weird. But, unperturbed, I quickly recalibrated my ordering to a smaller selection of the dishes on offer.
A salad of uber-crisp chicken matchsticks (£10.50), aka bone in demi-chicken wings, was finger licking good. Bathed in a fiery sweet, citrusy and sour dressing and tumbled together with a fine julienne of green mango, red onion and fresh herbs, it was an exemplary salad.
A beef tongue and tendon curry (£14) was recommended as one of the best dishes on the menu. A deep copper coloured, earthy, meaty and coconutty sauce with a building chilli heat was home to soft buttery slices of tongue and gelatinous pieces of tendon, which reminded me of flavourless wine gums. Whilst I was a big fan of the tongue, the tendon didn't really float my speedboat.
Sticky rice was a lovely mop for all that sauce whilst a cucumber condiment provided balance to the dish’s richness.
One of the stars of the meal was a jelly biah (£8.50), an icy cold mix of potent ginger, tart citrus, fragrant honey and lager. Super refreshing, and reminiscent of Hawksmoor’s Shaky Pete’s Special Brew, this turbo shandy was just the ticket to gulp back on a swelteringly hot day.
Having decided I was still game for more food, I circled back to the snack section of the menu and ordered a portion of sweetcorn fritters (£8), which the table next to me were raving about. A decent example of their type, they were super crisp, if a touch greasy, and accompanied by a sweet, zingy and mildly spiced dip.
Speedboat Bar's only dessert, a Seven Eleven pineapple pie (£9.50), was a deep-fried delight. The light and crisp battered pocket was filled with sweet pineapple in a golden caramel sauce and topped with a scoop of vivid purple taro ice cream whose flavour very much reminded me of Nice biscuits. Nice. Unlike McDonald’s pies, its filling was thankfully significantly cooler than the surface of the sun.
I really liked the Thai cooking at Speedboat Bar. It’s hugely spiced and steers away from the familiar. I’ll certainly look forward to exploring more of their food another time… I’ll just make sure I bring a friend with me so I can order the set menu.
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