Smoking Goat Shoreditch — Restaurant in London

Not quite as I’d hope… but I’ll give them another chance.

Having moved to Manchester a few years ago, I have never had the chance to visit Smoking Goat. Now that I am back in East London, I thought that today (Friday) would be the day to make my way over.

I arrived to meet a colleague for a late lunch at 2.15pm - I arrived early, and the place was busy but not full. Lunch service was winding down you could feel. As I waiting for a colleague and was early, I sat at the bar and was quickly served and expertly looked after by the bartender. It was Friday, so I enjoyed a nice glass of cider.

When my colleague arrived, after a little confusion, a table was set up for us by the front windows of Shoreditch High Street and we headed over.

We were given ample time to decide on food choices, though it took some time to get attention and my colleague had to go over to catch attention. We made our order promptly but it took some time for food to come out. I can be a bit uppity when service is slow and my colleague and I began looking around in that natural that can happen when you feel you’re waiting longer than you should.

We enjoyed a snack item to start, choosing the Fried Chicken Skin. The chicken skin was lovely and milder than a similar dish at Speedboat, making it easier to enjoy.

This was followed by Fried Chicken, and on this dish I have to agreed with my friend who was dining with me… the finest piece of fried chicken you have ever had!

We then rounded this up with the Moo Hong Braised Belly 450g, Crispy Pig Bits Citrus Salad, and some Jasmine Rice.

Let’s start with the easy bit. The rice was rice, cooked properly. Not much else to say. The Moo Hong Braised Belly was perfect cooked and the meat and fat balanced well to give a great sensation on the tongue.

The Crispy Pig Bits Citrus Salad. Have you ever been punched in the throat by a beautiful Thai woman? No? Try the Crispy Pig Bits Citrus Salad. It’s beautiful but takes no prisoners.

The food at Smoking Goat was good. The service was lacking. The team members were great. Polite and personable, but they were struggling with something, food took a little longer than I would expect, and we hardly saw the staff around us.

I had similar food the day before at Speedboat, for a similar price per person. The staff were amazing. I remember their names, we had a laugh, they recommended dishes to try on the next visit. Here, it was okay but it kind of felt taken for granted that we would think it was great and come back again on a return visit.

Now, believe me. It wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t as good as I would have hoped. It didn’t feel worth more than the, apparent slightly down market in comparison, Speedboat Bar.

Maybe this was because they were on a wind down after a lunch service, with the shift change happening ahead of the dinner service? I don’t know, but I will give...

EDIT: returned and sadly the full fried chicken has become a smaller plate, but it’s just as delicious. Braised belly, Massaman short rib, cabbage and pickles were absolutely amazing.

We tried to give the rice noodles a second chance, but again it was bland and disappointing - will skip that in the future!

Service: they truly go above and beyond. Love the staff there, they’re funny and charming and helpful and authentic.

EDIT: returned a year later and tried the fried chicken. It was genuinely revelatory. One of the best things I’ve eaten all year and worth waiting an hour for.

The monkfish and citrus salad was also excellent. Could’ve skipped the mutton and rice noodles, but overall loved the meal.

Bright, fresh and lively flavours - delightfully refreshing, which is not how you’d normally describe Thai.

The chicken wings were a very gentle start - sweet and crunchy with a hint of coriander and chilli. Really well cooked as they were still juicy and tender.

The pear, kumquat and rice noodle salad was an absolute standout - fiendishly hot, but also super sharp and still balanced with sweet. It was our favourite for the night.

We got two laabs - the mushroom, which was fine but needed some acidity to lift it (we used some of the lime from the salad); and the brisket, which was deep and dark-tasting and coated your mouth in a layer of fat. You definitely need rice for that one.

We also got the stir fried pork belly which was very friendly - the closest thing to a standard stir fry, and absolutely delicious.

The one miss for me was the sticky rice - it was cold, and super hard. It clumped into balls I had to saw through with my spoon, then a knife. I’m sure it’s not always like that, but it was actively unpleasant to eat. My friend for the lardo fried rice and it was soft and tender in a very moreish way.

We had pandan spritzes - an interesting use of pandan, blended with honey and sugar syrup and soda. It tasted almost creamy the way rice does, and was very refreshing.

Service was lovely, very personable, polite and attentive.

All up: I’d recommend it if you’re in the area. It’s not the cheapest Thai, but it’s inventive and tasty. You do need to book as it gets very busy. They give you the bill straight away to move you on, so it’s not a place to...

Stopped by Smoking Goat for dinner on a Saturday for 5 people. I always advise to book ahead but on this one occasion we didn’t have a booking! This was only the second day smoking goat have integrated their new menu so it was slow and there was some confusion with our order which led to food being delayed coming out.

However, despite that - Smoking Goat still undoubtedly gets 5 stars. The food was amazing and definitely worth the wait. The fried chicken was possibly the best I have had - it’s insanely crispy but super succulent on the inside and flavoured beautifully with garlic, shallots, chilli, lime, coriander root and fish sauce. You can smell the aroma before you take the first bite and when you do it doesn’t disappoint. This was definitely a stand out must order item and I hope they keep it on the menu! We also ordered roast pork belly, chilli wings and smoked mutton - the wings were also amazing and the sauce was so flavourful (I saved some of the wing sauce to eat with the fried chicken which was so good). The smoked mutton was also packed with flavour and was actually spicy which I loved! The stir fried Kale was also super flavourful with great texture - I never order salads to be honest but this was worth getting).

Whats more is the service and staff - everyone was excellent and super friendly and transparent with us regarding our order. Due to the issues we had; the team ensured we were taken care of and were given some free items and had some items removed from the bill as it was quite a long wait but at the end of the day - when a restaurant can admit its mistakes and still deliver excellent service and food whilst keeping guests happy; that deserves 5 stars and puts itself way higher on my list compared to other restaurants!

Big thank you to Tom at the bar also who was super cool and friendly and made sure we were happy (we were seated at the bar so were next to the bartenders). Not to mention that the cocktails Tom has crafted for the restaurant which were incredible - in particular the ‘snake eyes’ cocktail which was honestly one of the best cocktails I have ever had with the nicest slightly chilli lime dusted rim.

I cannot recommend this place enough and I already cant wait to dine there again! Next time I will also be sure to take...