Singburi, Shoreditch, London Thai restaurant review

There's a lot of hype around Singburi.

In its original incarnation in Leytonstone, it developed a cult following from in the know foodies who trekked out to Zone 3 to try their bold flavoured Thai cooking from a menu of blackboard specials.

This family run BYOB cash-only restaurant, which was touted by some as the best restaurant in London, sounded like a lot of fun… that is if you could get a table.

Having relocated to a shiny new industrial dining space in Shoreditch in 2025, Singburi 2.0 appears to be a much more typical London restaurant experience – online reservations are straightforward to come by, there’s a paper menu of various sized plates without any paragraph breaks delineating them, you can quaff a glass of wine with your dinner and then pay by card at the end.

On a dreary Friday night in January there was a warm welcome from a friendly member of front of house who explained how the menu works (so far so hip London restaurant).

A fresh and juicy glass of Bright Side of Life Scheurebe, Sauvignon Blanc and Riesling blend (£7.90) was a tasty drop to pair with all the aromatic food. I followed it up with a half of draught Singha (£4).

Our first small plate to arrive was an Isaan smoked chicken thigh (£7). Juicy, crisp skinned and lightly smoked, it was a lovely bit of meat.

A radish and kohlrabi herbal salad (£8) was enjoyably crisp, cleansing and fragrant. Long spirals of vegetable were tumbled together with the crunch of nuts and aroma of green herb.

Crispy rice salad (£8.50), made with golden nuggets of crisp edged grains flecked with coriander, cucumber and mixed onions, was another tasty yet mild proposition.

Lift off finally arrived with aubergine pad phet (£16). Lightly battered and stupidly tender aubergine pieces were coated in spicy, sweet, sour, savoury and sticky sauce flecked with chillies, batons of garlic and fragrant basil leaves. Potently flavoured yet comforting, it was a belter of a dish.

Things became milder once again with a beautifully juicy, smoke-kissed and fat-rich iberico pork collar (£26) that was served with a bowl of zingy and garlicky prik nam som dipping sauce.

Alongside the aubergine, hispi cabbage stir fried in pork fat (£6.50) was the other standout dish. Addictively smoky and meaty, this would ensure that anyone eats their greens.

Finally, a bowl of sticky jasmine rice (£3) hit the mark, but in the end, there weren’t really any sauces that needed mopping up.

Overall, I really enjoyed Singburi but I perhaps expected a bigger wallop of flavour and spice than their cooking delivered. Maybe it's because I never went to the original Singburi and so don’t have an emotional connection with the place. Or maybe we just didn't pick the biggest spiced dishes. However, this just seems like another very nice modern Thai restaurant to me rather than a cult institution. 

The Details:

Address - Singburi, Unit 7, Montacute Yards, 185‑186 Shoreditch High Street, London E1 6HU

Web - https://www.opentable.co.uk/r/singburi-london-2

Nok and Roni's Kitchen, falafel and Thai cooking, Cardiff review

*Update - Nok & Roni's Kitchen has now relocated from Cardiff to Monmouth*

It feels like it’s been a very long and wet winter.

It must have felt even longer for outdoor-centric businesses like Nok and Roni’s Kitchen in Canton’s Boneyard.

Whilst they’ve got covered seating to take shelter from any inevitable downpours, this is a place where you’re acutely aware of the elements.

So, on the first sunny day in Cardiff in what seemed like months, we decided it was time for a long overdue visit to Nok and Roni’s.

For keen followers of Cardiff restaurant lore, Roni is the former owner of Crwys Road’s Falafel Kitchen, home of the best falafel that I’ve ever eaten in the city.

Having closed in 2018, Roni started a Mediterranean and Thai street food stall with his wife Nok. Hence the name Nok and Roni’s.

After stints at Roath and Riverside Markets, a short-lived cafe on Trade Street, and a spell at McCarthur Glen in Bridgend, Nok and Roni relocated to the Boneyard in early 2025.

I’ve always thought the Boneyard is a bit of a funny location. Hidden away at the end of an industrial estate alongside other shipping container creative companies, it’s the kind of place which has almost no passing trade.

So, unless you’ve planned a visit to Nok and Roni's, it’s very unlikely you’re going to stumble across them. It’s a shame because Nok and Roni’s menu of Mediterranean and Thai street food classics is the type of food that deserves to be stumbled upon.

Having ordered at the counter and following a short wait for everything to be cooked to order, we were in business.

Mrs G ordered the falafel wrap (£8) and its main component was every bit as good as I remembered. At least half a dozen golden falafel were beautifully crisp and grease free with light, soft and herb-flecked centres. They were stuffed into a whopping soft flat bread alongside thick hummus and fresh salad. On the side was a generous pile of skinny, paprika-dusted fries. For £8 this was a hell of a feed.

Despite also wanting to order falafel, I thought it would be churlish to not give Nok’s Thai cooking a go. I was very glad I did.

A tofu pad Thai (£9) was excellent. A generous portion of slippery noodles with just the right amount of bite were coated in a tangy, sweet and savoury sauce that was lifted with a good squeeze of lime. The crunch of smashed peanuts, fresh spring onions, a dusting of chilli flakes, caramelised omelette pieces and a scattering of squishy tofu puffs completed the delicious and well-priced dish.

I was worried about having FFOMO (falafel fear of missing out) so I ordered a side of falafel and hummus. Six of those brilliant chickpea fritters were sat in a bowl of thick and smooth tahini rich hummus. I was very glad I ordered them but at £6.50 I’d question their value compared to the wrap with chips that costs just £1.50 more. Next time I’ll skip breakfast and order a wrap and a pad Thai.

We had a belter of a lunch at Nok and Roni’s Kitchen and it’s great to see Cardiff’s falafel king still reigns supreme.

At the end of our meal, when I asked Roni how things were going in their new home, he told me that they’d struggled with the wet weather and so are potentially looking at relocating once again to a bricks and mortar space. I totally understand their dilemma. Wherever they’re based, Cardiff is very much better off with Nok and Roni’s cooking.

The Details:

Address - Nok and Roni's Kitchen, The Bone Yard, Paper Mill Road, Canton, Cardiff CF11 8DH

Web - https://www.instagram.com/nokandronikitchen/?hl=en

Telephone - 07400 522233

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/

Speedboat Bar, London, Thai restaurant review

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. 

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.

The Details:

Address - Speedboat Bar, 30 Rupert St. London W1D 6DL

Web - https://speedboatbar.co.uk/

Brother Thai, Cardiff restaurant review

Whenever we’ve walk past Brother Thai after a session on the craft beers at Pop ‘n’ Hops, it’s always been packed to the rafters. And on the couple of times we’ve tried to get a walk-in table, it’s been a fruitless endeavour.

But, on a sunny Friday night, and with Brother Thai’s compact back garden open for business, we were in luck.

One of the OGs of south Wales’s street food scene, Brother Thai’s non-traditional Thai cooking has built up a legion of fans over the last decade. It’s clear they’ve been just as popular since they made the transition to bricks and mortar in 2021.

Understandably, Brother Thai’s restaurant menu is more expansive than their festival offering. As well as their signature filled rotis, on offer there are rice bowls, a clutch of small plates and even a couple of desserts.

A pair of cocktails were both summery gluggers – a Rum Aroi (£9.50) combined spiced rum, sweet amaretto and a zip of citrus, whilst a Watermelon Wat (£4.60) saw ginger ale spiked with watermelon and lemon.

First to arrive was excellent Thai fried chicken (£8.50). With a super crisp yet thin spiced crumb and impressively juicy flesh, the pair of deboned thighs were liberally drizzled with spicy sriracha and balancing sriracha mayo.

Brother Thai’s sticky beef roti (£9) was always an essential order at street food festivals and here it was as compelling as ever. The crisp, flaky and buttery folded paratha was packed to the edges with tender pieces of big-flavoured beef coated in a rich, sticky and savoury spiced sauce which was reminiscent of rendang. Delicately pickled cucumber and red onion provided acidity and coriander leaves delivered an extra pop of fragrance.

A pad krapao rice bowl (£12) was Mrs G’s favourite dish of the night. The deeply savoury stir fry of tender chicken, green beans and chilli was heady with the aroma of holy basil. Jasmine rice and a frilly edged fried egg were excellent accompaniments.

Last up was a plate of deep-fried mushrooms (£8.50) masquerading as a laab salad. Heaps of fragrant coriander and mint, a good kick of chilli and a citrusy zing, made this a lovely vegan take on the classic meat salad.

It’s easy to see why we’ve found walk-ins so hard to come by at Brother Thai because their huge flavoured Thai street food is a real crowd pleaser. Next time we need to visit on a Sunday when they serve a rather delicious looking khao soi special.

The details:

Address - Brother Thai, 35 Whitchurch Rd, Cardiff CF14 3JN

Web - https://www.brotherthai.co.uk/

Telephone - 029 2063 4834

Plaza Khao Gaeng, London Thai restaurant review

One of the major conundrums when solo dining is choosing which single starter, main and dessert to order.

With a whole menu on offer and no-one else to steal food from, it always pains me to try such a limited range of a restaurant’s wares.

It’s why I’m a huge fan of Plaza Kao Gaeng’s Deep South Menu, which offers a selection of dishes from their menu for £35 a head. Handily it’s available for just one person, meaning it’s surely one of London’s cheapest tasting menus.

Tucked away on the mezzanine of Centre Point’s Arcade Food Hall (just a rapid eight minute tube ride from Paddington on the Elizabeth Line), Plaza Khao Gaeng serves Southern Thai cooking which delivers an onslaught of chilli, herb and spice.

It’s headed up by Luke Farrell, a chef who set up his own nursery in Dorset to grow Thai herbs and vegetables for his restaurant, and it’s a partnership with JKS restaurants (a group with the Midas touch who are behind restaurants like Bao, Lyle’s and Hoppers).

Despite being located in a modern and swanky food hall, Plaza Khao Gaeng’s interior manages to recreate a Thai street cafe without descending into pastiche or cliche.

Miang Phuket was a ferocious statement of intent. Fresh betel leaves were the vehicle for a fiery, citrusy, nutty, crunchy, sweet, savoury and sour concoction of cashew, coconut, lime peel, coconut, and onion.

Much needed refreshment came in the form of fragrant iced green tea (£6) with the sweet and creamy comforting hit of condensed milk.

Beef shoulder massaman curry was everything I love in a bowl. Extremely beefy, fall apart tender slow-cooked pieces of meat and soft bits of spud were bathed in a mild yet warming spiced thick and creamy sauce.

An accompanying bucket of sticky Jasmine rice was an essential mop for every drop of sauce.

A tender squid, white fish and plump mussel orange curry was gloriously hot and sour. It reminded me more of a soup than a curry but that’s not a criticism.

Deliciously creamy yet spicy Southern curry was laden with sweet king prawns, which teased out of their shells with ease, and unique sator beans, which were reminiscent of slightly bitter unripe avocado.

Stir fried morning glory was an unexpected stand out. The toothsome greens were dressed with a seriously savoury and meaty fermented soy bean sauce.

A frilly laced fried egg lent richness to the other dishes. But I steered clear of a bowl of chilli oil which looked capable of causing serious harm.

Described by a waiter as a Thai take on chip and dips - cucumber, pineapple, lettuce and leaves of pungent herbs were accompanied by a potently savoury and spicy shrimp relish.

I had absolute belter of a lunch at Plaza Kao Gaeng. With its huge spicing, it's easily some of the most exciting Thai cooking I've eaten in the UK.

Whilst there's no dessert on offer I popped downstairs to the food hall and had one of Flor's famous brown butter cakes. Toasty, buttery and soft crumbed, it was a delicious couple of mouthfuls.

The Details:

Address - Arcade Food Hall, 103-105 New Oxford St, London WC1A 1DB

Web - https://plazakhaogaeng.com