som saa — Restaurant in London

To begin with, a male staff member asked for my name and telephone number, which made me feel like it was unnecessary to collect so much personal information as a walk-in diner. Then, I was unfortunate enough to be seated at the bar as a first-time solo diner. That gave me a very bad first impression.

Despite the restaurant not appearing crowded, he seemingly made no effort—or at least didn’t try—to offer me a better seat. He could have shown me what it looked like inside and let me check if a two-person table was available. Of course, I couldn’t be 100% sure whether the inside was already full, as I was seated at the bar, but I would have appreciated it if he had at least given me the option to see for myself.

Once at the bar, the bartender standing in front of me acted as if I wasn’t even there. I assumed he might notify the other staff when I was ready to order, but instead, he remained entirely focused on his own tasks, paying no attention to me.

On the other hand, the female staff member was excellent. She was cool, confident, and friendly, patiently guiding me through the menu and recommending options for a solo diner. She also clarified that the sticky rice was not the sweet version, which I really appreciated. The sticky rice itself was fantastic, and I was grateful for her attentive service.

The overall atmosphere was very decent and classy. Even before ordering anything, I could already tell that this restaurant was on the pricier side.

The food was amazing and utterly ambrosial—no doubt about it. However, Thai food is commonly known for being both affordable and delicious, so it can be quite surprising when the price is much higher than expected.

All in all, the food was great, and the environment was fantastic. The staff were professional overall. As the seat was extremely uncomfortable because the bar table was quite tall, making the dining experience less enjoyable. That makes me wonder whether I would revisit this restaurant. I think the answer might be no, as it doesn’t seem worth spending a fortune on lunch when I don’t feel fully satisfied with the overall experience.

I guess I’ll come back next time when I no longer care about how much I’m spending. I didn't regret visiting this restaurant. It was still an incredibly memorable,...

Have returned after many years of not coming. The food is still ok (tho nothing really stood out as amazing to me). Their iconic dish (the crispy sea bass) was not remotely as good as I remembered. Yeah, the dressing was nice, but the dish was cold for starters, and the whole thing a bit dry and overcooked. They make a less instagrammable but tastier crispy fish salad at 101 Thai in Hammersmith in my opinion, for half the price. We remembered a much more interesting wine list a few years back. It's much shorter now, which is of course not bad per se. But nothing as exciting and quirky as back then. The most disappointing thing however was the service. The dishes (yep, they explained one more time that 'everything is shareable'!) came in completely random order. The crispy chicken skin (also cold) arrived before the wine was served, so we had to have it with water (zero fun for a bar snack). Cashew nuts arrived after the mains were already on the table, very strange. Then all the rest came at once. No pacing, no rhythm, no chance to appreciate the individual dishes/flavours. We ordered a very good bottle of Riesling (£110) tho it wasn't in the fridge, so it was put in ice. So we had to order another bottle in the meantime. It was a 'col fondo' (50 something), but was served straight up, without the yeasts being mixed (we eventually mixed the rest of the bottle ourselves and topped our glasses so to have a bit of that cloudy fun). The Riesling eventually came and it was outstanding, but in my opinion if you sell a bottle of Riesling at that level (and at that price) one would expect a bit of wine service, right temperature, etc. I do the ice bucket thing when I get back drunk at 2am in my kitchen and I have nothing in the fridge, thanks. The waItress was really doing her best, she was nice and all but I don't think she had any wine training nor knowledge (nor restaurant service training in general tbh). Informal is cool, I understand it is part of the concept and this is east London after all, but the random succession of dishes (this is a kitchen problem) and the bad service (this is a front of house problem) ruined it for me. Sorry but nah. This was not worth 80quid pp. Gonna stick to Singburi free corkage nights for banging Thai at a quarter...

SomSaa - the best Thai food in London 11/10. Highly recommended personally for anyone on a coeliac / gluten-free diet.

Having grown up in a Thai household and spending many early years there, now living in London I am forever hunting for and let down by promises of Thai cuisine.

Here, in tasting menu we trust. That first, fresh bite to whet the appetite is some work of art. Crisp, light, zingy, spicy, sweet & salty. Gimme gimme more.

From southern style chicken skewers the colonel could only dream of, to classic prawn green curry which actually tastes like guess what? Prawn green curry! No wild western twists, or extra ingredients to make it grammable (though I tried still).

Dessert alternates between turmeric banana and salted caramel ice cream, and my favourite, mango sticky rice or recently, blackbean sticky rice with coconut & caramelised nuts. YES.

The beauty of this place though, a casual sharing vibe to every table. If you aren’t sharing, you aren’t caring. A group of 4 gets two dishes each so you aren’t clambering over one another and the tables, bar and booth all set for the most relaxed of evenings.

Staff are so darn attentive and knowledgable of the menu, ingredients, cooking methods and dietary implications you’re only filled with confidence. We have a coeliac in the group and want assurance in that first response when we mention ‘gluten-free’ and instantly, any concerns eased.

Drinks span from mocktails, cocktails, beers (incl. low alcohol) & wines. Of course, my choice was a Singha beer for good measure but we’ve also tried the cocktails which compliment Thai ingredients and are great if not punchy when your tongue is sizzling from that one too brave spoonful of chilli!

Don’t go to Rosa’s, don’t visit Busaba and definitely do not visit the recently hyped up by a Times writer Plaza Khao Gaeng in central London which is the worst of all. The Times should be embarrassed of themselves but let’s see how they review upcoming Speedboat in central, another from those behind aforementioned PKG.

We’ll be visiting Speedboat for sure! Watch this space.

Meanwhile, please enjoy a great experience at SomSaa. We’ll be returning as...