Champor-Champor — Restaurant in London

Authentic experience

Atmosphere - 5 - very authentic and cosy. The inside is wooden (walls, stairs, tables, chairs, etc...) giving it a very homey and conformable feeling.

Decoration - 5 - ethnic. You will find on display a lot of chandeliers, candles holders, Buddhas, shrines, statues, masks, etc... All connect very well together

Music - alternative and not too loud, you can keep a conversation.

Food - Overall 4/4.5 - The shrimp rolls we had had large prawns inside, not the small cheap one you tend to find. The crispy noodles had an edge to it and the fresh salad roll was very tasty.

Service - 5 - the waiters were amazing, even helped us select something else when we mentioned we don't like chilli (we had nearly ordered something spicy).

If I had to improve, would be to include some more edgy flavours on the menu.

They have a secluded table for 2 that looks very romantic (you have to climb these stairs to reach it - feels very secluded) but in our to book that one you will have to call (don't book online).

I had read a average review about the restaurant before going and I am happy I didn't pay much attention to it. I feel the restaurant is indeed worth 4/5 stars.

Also...

Champor Champor is truly a hidden gem! This is so close to the London Bridge Station that it makes commute to the restaurant really simple. My friends and I absolutely devoured the dishes we were served.

For starters we ordered the below two dishes and it was just so delicious. Okra with roasted young green chilli chutney (vegan) £8.95 Green papaya, crispy tofu, pomegranate Somtam, Roasted cashew nuts (vegan) £9.50

For mains we ordered the below three dishes- The flavours were so rich. It seemed as though it was all made with a lot of passion. We absolutely licked our bowls clean. I was totally mesmerised. Also for a Tuesday, the restaurant was packed so booking early is surely advisable. They even had a wide selection of drinks. We loved this place so much that we are sure to come back here. ❤️

Our order for mains included - Baked fresh shitake mushroom, potato edamame dumpling, Szechuan peppercorn sauce, pak choi & toasted pine nuts (vegan) £17.50 Spicy yellow turmeric young banana curry (vegan) £17.50 Grilled tofu & butternut squash green curry, steamed asparagus, basil oil (vegan) £18.25

Amazing staff- super polite and helpful. Thank you for the...

The food is perfectly adequate, but the price... is daylight wobbewy. It’s a Thai/Malay restaurant for people who like to feel fancy and are willing to pay double if the curtains have tassels and there is some exposed brick. Ooh look there’s some esoteric decoration that makes the 18.95 for the lamb massaman seem a positive steal, someone dreadful might say.

It’s also the little ‘western’ touches that make the whole experience egregious. ‘The banana bread with soy/sauce and oil in a little stone bowl is like what you get in an Italian restaurant, but it’s more exotic - how exciting’ Rupert and Bella on table 3 simultaneously thought, racistly. They’ll spend 80 quid on a meal there they could get at Marie’s by Waterloo for 30£, but they’ll recommend it to all their wretched mates because it’s got a fun name and the crockery really spoke to them.

I can’t fault the service and staff. They were friendly and fast. The food was hot and had it not been 50£ for a 25£ meal in the company of people who mostly played netball or rugby for Durham university, I probably would’ve enjoyed it.

If you like paying over the odds for reasonably good food surrounded by likeminded twerps,...