Kolae, Borough Market, London Thai restaurant review

The best meal we ate in London in 2023 consisted of flame-cooked spice-loaded food from a restaurant located in Borough Market.

It looks like 2024 is going to go exactly the same way.

Whilst last year it was all about Rambutan's Sri Lankan cooking, this time it's the Thai food from Kolae, which is owned by the same team as the acclaimed Som Saa (who also happened to do an epic home delivery kit during the pandemic).

Set in a former coach house, it's a characterful place which exudes history from its well-worn brickwork. Downstairs, there’s an open kitchen with flashes of flame and wafts of smoke that draw you in, whilst upstairs, a cosy dining room is intimate without feeling cramped.

Kolae focuses on southern Thai cooking, especially the eponymous cooking style where ingredients are coated in a curried coconut marinade and cooked over flame.

I wanted to order everything on Kolae’s menu and fortunately with its small plate format we were able to make a fair dent. If you’re a chilli wuss, then it’s also worth noting that certain dishes come with a spice warning from the exemplary front of house team.

A short drink of lemongrass and pandan rum milk punch (£11) hid its booze exceptionally well. Scented with notes of lemongrass, liquorice and vanilla, it was beautifully fragrant yet easy drinking. Mrs G tucked away a couple of delicious glasses of wine, an Alsatian crémant (£9.85) and a skin contact garnacha blanca and muscatel blend (£12.55).

A tower of warm crisp chicken skins (£5) was a bar snack extraordinaire. Beautifully crisp with the warmth of garlic and turmeric, the occasional shard had a nugget of tender flesh still attached to it. They were great dredged through a dip with a fiery hit of chilli and balancing acidity.

Kolae’s mussel skewers (£6) were probably the best mussels I've ever eaten. Coated in a sticky, savoury marinade before being cooked over coals, they were compellingly tender and meaty with a great lick of smoke.

A kolae chicken skewer (£7) was more of the same in a very good way. Generous in quantity for seven quid, the beautifully juicy meat had nicely caramelised edges and an excellent savoury smokiness going on. It was the polar opposite to the dried-out, one note peanut sauce coated satay skewers which you so often encounter in British Thai restaurants.

Green mango salad (£10) was uncompromising in its chilli heat, and I had to swiftly crack open a packet of tissues. Super fresh and cleansing with plenty of citrus acidity, the toastiness of roast coconut, and crunch of fried anchovies, it was a lovely contrast to the richer dishes.

Kolae crown prince squash (£12.50) was another standout - deliciously soft, lightly sweet, nutty and smoky, it was coated in a rich marinade that was fragrant with lemongrass and topped with crispy shallots. On the side, a sweet and sour ajaad relish contained a crunchy mix of cucumber, radish and ginger (I steered well clear of the chillies).

A gati fish curry (£16.50) was described by the waiter as a 7.2 out of ten in terms of chilli heat. However, after the spice onslaught of the mango salad, it felt like a soothing balm in comparison. Laden with precisely cooked pieces of stone bass and sweet meaty prawns, the creamy coconut curry sauce had lovely layers of spice. 

A generous bowl of sticky rice (£3.80) was flecked with grains of nutty wild rice and was perfect for mopping up all those sauces. With dishes arriving as and when they’re ready, we did have to show some restraint as the rice was the first dish to arrive and the curry was the last.

Very often for dessert, all I want is a little bonne bouche rather than a full-blown pud. Kolae’s young coconut sorbet (£5) exactly fitted the brief. Creamy ice-cream like sorbet was drizzled with a thick sticky salted caramel that was lightly fragranced with tea and scattered with crunchy peanuts. It was a killer combination.

Kolae serves brilliant and deliciously different spice-packed Thai cooking. Throw in the good value pricing for central London, excellent service and interesting booze, and Kolae is an unmitigated success. I wonder what Borough Market has in store for me in 2025…

The Details:

Address - Kolae, 6 Park St, London SE1 9AB

Web - https://kolae.com/