Ange: There is a dark, sultry vibe to Denmark Street’s Smoking Goat. The best way to describe it is ‘Thailand’s answer to Polpo’ and I rather enjoyed it.
Almost entirely lit by candles, with an assortment of cosy seating, it makes for a lovely date night. The central bar means there is a real buzz at all times. It also produces some seriously strong cocktails. I channelled Don Draper by ordering an Old Fashioned (£7.50) and winced in enjoyment. The water, flavoured with pandan leaves, took some of the edge off and I was ready to begin eating.
Coal roasted scallops to start – something I’m not a huge fan of. The coal didn’t seem to make a lot of difference but the light thai spice certainly made things more interesting. We ordered two mains: duck in red sauce and rendang beef short rib (£16). The duck almost took my my life (I had forgotten how poorly I handle red sauce) so I can’t comment on it. The beef, however, was exceptional. It fell off of the bone and just gave a tingle of spice.
The papaya salad was refreshing but kind of blah.
Oh, they put rice in a bag here. It comes out a little like a sponge. The only real justification for its inclusion is that it fills you up.
The whole meal was pretty reasonable (£64) and the food was authentic yet novel. I’d definitely give it another try.
Hana: I found this place on Time Out’s list of Best Affordable Restaurants in London. Opening in November, it’s not yet long established, and the service is telling. Good-charactered waitresses too often produced dishes to the wrong table at the wrong time, or pushed past customers in the narrow walkways to get their prioritised jobs done. But the food stopped that from mattering.
Water was infused with pandan leaves – sourced locally from China Town. The taste was a little weird, but the small touch was a good’n. Across the room was a chalk board, typical of today’s Soho sharing-food restaurants, but what it communicated was different: a cocktail list mixed with classics and Smoking Goat ambiguously-named-specials. Ange went for a classic, I had a ‘ROSE AND RHUBARB’ (£6): the two, blended with tequila and crushed ice. As a tequila-despiser, this could have been an ill-advised choice, but it was the perfect accompaniment to the restaurant’s hearty, spicy Thai food.
The menu is split into sections ‘SEA’, ‘WOOD SMOKE’, ‘EAT WITH’ and ‘EXTRA’. From the sea (available Tues-Sun; a v. good sign), individual coal-roast scallops (£3.50 each), served in their shells, were tangy and nicely cooked with the coral and a bit of spice. With a whole plate of these I’d have left happy, so don’t come on a Monday. Roasted duck breast in red curry (£14) reflected its ‘WOOD SMOKE’ category name and did display the famous depth and intricacy of Thailand’s flavours. Though spicy, I couldn’t leave it alone, even the skin! Accompanied by green beans and a raw cucumber, spring onion and red cabbage salad, temperature, texture and flavour were deliciously balanced.
By 8pm the queue was out the door, but, there’s no dessert.
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