Eat Out London!Som Saa Restaurant
som saa - restaurant and cocktail bar serving regional thai dishes in a former fabric warehouse in East London
som saa | Spitalfields | E1 6BD | 020 7324 7790
Reviews and related sites
Som Saa, London E1, restaurant review
food
The menu is clear and engaging, with more of that toothsome friendliness; but it also asserts Som Saa’s authenticity, labelling dishes first in Thai, making only a few points of contact with the generic Brit Thai menu.
Hot and sour soup was a perfectly clear broth with an almost psychedelically strong focus on ingredients – the leaf and juice of the makhrut or “kaffir” lime, chillies of various hues and “duck and its offal”, the latter imparting a coppery taste that wound furtively through the soup alongside the citrus and spice like a water snake.
Som tam, the shredded papaya salad that you’ll probably be familiar with, came in two guises – “Thai” and “Isaan”.
We had the second: less sweet than we were used to, with a velvety feeling in the mouth thanks to the use of nam pla raa, fermented fish sauce, thicker and – there’s no getting around the fact – fishier than boring old nam pla.
(Though the really hardcore som tam option remains the unappetisingly named som tam poo at the Heron Tavern, over on the other side of town, which comes with leathery little chunks of fermented crab).
Som Saa – restaurant review |
food menu
This Thai restaurant, opened earlier this year by ex Masterchef 2009 finalist Andy Oliver, Mark Dobbie, chef from now closed Michelin starred Nahm restaurant in Knightsbridge and Pok Pok in New York and front of house, Tom George, will more than knock your socks off.
It’s normally the case when a play/book/film/restaurant get’s over hyped you feel a real crushing blow that it really wasn’t that good, but with Som Saa it is a whole different story.
The seed for Som Saa was planted a couple of years back when they ran a pop-up (of the same name) at Climpson’s Arch in London Fields.
They wanted their new residence to have the same feeling and vibe of the old Climpson’s Arch and although I did not get to experience it, looking at the architecture it has the exposed brick arches, rustic, tables chairs and flooring that I can only imagine is not too far removed from their pop-up days.
My companion and I opted for the following: som tam thai – Bangkok style green papaya salad with snake beans, dried shrimp, peanuts and cherry tomatoes (they can make this vegetarian if you wish) gaeng hung lay – Burmese style curry of pork belly and shoulder with pickled garlic and fresh ginger It’s no exaggeration that every dish was punch-the-air fabulous.
restaurant review |
food menu
Hot pots are in many respects the Chinese version of fondu, although with fondu of course there is no broth to eat with your meat or cheese.
They are a great social way to dine with family and friends as a great big pot of steaming broth is the centrepiece of the whole table.
From a health perspective, broths are a perfect way to strengthen your immune system, which often tends to be quite low at this time of year.
There were so many choices that we took a couple of little plates back to the table: soy sauce, chilli sauce, peanut sauce, garlic, spring onions, chillies, sesame seeds to name a few.
My dining companion lived in Hong Kong for many years and is in fact half Chinese and she was pleasantly surprised by how delicious both broths were.
Som Saa London: Thai Restaurant, Commercial Street | Culture ...
food
After this authentic Thai restaurant attracted plaudits when it had a residency at Climpson’s Arch in London Fields last year, and social media's been going wild for it ever since.
Now the team behind it, 2009 Masterchef finalist Andy Oliver and restaurateur Tom George, are opening their first restaurant in a permanent location on Commercial Street.
Oliver and George have made it their mission to bring Londoners the genuine taste of Thailand.
Instead the food takes its origin from the more rustic side of Thai cuisine, with the method of serving equally faithful to rural culture; expect sharing plates that can be enjoyed by groups.
As well as his Masterchef experience, Oliver spent ten years accumulating experience in Thai cuisine at Nahm and at Bo Lan in Bangkok.
Som Saa, London — the spicier route to Thailand
Som Saa return to Climpson's Arch for one weekend and they're ...
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There's no doubt that Som Saa's restaurant has been a huge success, but if you've been missing the original residency at Climpson's Arch, then you'll want to keep next weekend free.
They're heading back to the Arch for one weekend only - and on the Sunday they're joined by Smoking Goat for a double-header.
On their unashamedly nostalgic menu, they'll have dishes from the original residency including Gai Yaang (Thai grilled chicken leg served with dipping sauce), Som Tam Kai Kem (green papaya salad) and Geng hung lay (pork belly curry with ginger and pickled garlic).
As for Smoking Goat, they'll be serving up Char Siu and Tom Yam Naam Sai as a preview of their upcoming Shoreditch restaurant.
And it's all no-reservations, so just head up there next week for some of the best Thai food in town.
Som Saa: restaurant review | Jay Rayner | Life and style | The ...
staff food drinks desserts
Som Saa started life last year as a Thai food pop-up in a filthy east London railway arch, but I didn’t go.
It is a deliriously fearsome bash of fire and sour and salt and smoke; of the high ethereal waft of Thai basil and lemongrass, of mint and coriander and pungent fish sauces, and their own coconut creams to lend soothing depths where needed.
A salad of prawn, pork, peanuts and Asian pennywort, dressed with glugs of lime juice and – but of course – more fish sauce, is like a breath of cool air after hours in the sun.
Prices range from £6.50 to £16 for the whole fish, but what struck me was that I could slip in here alone, just for the duck soup or the crispy pork dish or the beef cheek curry.
■ Jane-Tira, a Thai restaurant in London’s Soho, is a canteen-like space which has become famous for one particular dish: a mackerel curry made with fermented fish guts.
Som Saa restaurant review - London, UK | Wallpaper*
food
In a city teeming with international restaurants, it’s surprising that London’s best-known Thai eatery is a chain.
Filling this gap is Som Saa, an authentic restaurant brought to Londoners by co-head chefs Andy Oliver and Mark Dobbie, and manager Tome George.
In fact, Som Saa earned its bragging rights well before opening it’s new location — the restaurant started life as a pop-up in Peckham and its current, permanent, presence in East London is thanks to a crowd-funding campaign.
The same can be said of the potent cocktails, all presented in thick porcelain cups that are both beautiful and all-purpose; their cooling touch taking the sting off Som Saa’s intense housemade curry pastes.
It’s all offered in a space that reflects Som Saa’s humble beginnings.