A stone’s throw North of Marble Arch, Seymour Place is a quaint, unassuming street which, with its winery and pub and hardware store, still seems to belong to a residential London which shies away from announcing itself too loudly. Almost exactly a year old, AngloThai brought a simmering pride and exoticism to the street. The intimate interior is neat, precise and calm. Elegant tables and chairs are made from dark Chamchuri wood (sourced from Chiang Mai). Lighting is dusky and candlelit and a small amount of abstract art (both painting and sculpture) sparsely decorates the walls.
Image credits Charlie Mckay
The menu is a tasting one which constantly rotates but changes mainly with the seasons, so that the diner’s only real decision is whether to opt for a drinks pairing or not.
If the restaurant’s name may not be the world’s most dynamic, it is an accurate description of the food served, one which starts to make more sense after the first serving of three bite-sized hors d’oeuvres: Lovita Plum with Candied Beetroot, Line Caught Mackerel with Gooseberry and Horseradish and Crispy Pork Belly. All British ingredients served with Thai flair, each mixes invention with exploration and is rather thrilling.
If the Pork Belly is the most conventional, offering a comfort food explosion with a chilli chaser, the first two defy expectation and demand concentration and then discussion. The plum and candied beetroot mixes sweet with earthiness for a hint of orchard, whilst the Mackerel offers a delicate reminder of the sea, compounded by a left-field radish kick.
The Brixham Crab with Exmoor Caviar and Coconut Ash Cracker is a favourite both in presentation and conviction. A generous mound of caviar stands on white crab meat next to which two mother-of-pearl spoons shimmer on a bowl of ice. First impression of the cracker is it’s a Christmas decoration inspired by the dark arts but after one bite, subtle, delicate flavours complement each other for an undoubtedly moreish combination. The Orkney Scallop comes at a supplement and with its large slices of truffle and bed of dehydrated cherry is a sublime dish but undoubtedly extravagant given the overall generosity of portions.
If all main ingredients are recognisable, they also fuse with the secondary ingredients to form a more unrecognisable whole. Hints of flavours abound left, right and centre and there’s so much intricacy at play that our knowledgeable waitress still has to resort to a booklet to confer with her notes. Our sommelier enthuses about the six wine pairings, raving especially about the three English wines. My favourite is the Westwell New Rosé Meunier, Pinot Noir from Kent which is made from the juice of the second pressings of the Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier grapes.
On initial inspection, Khao So Noodles may look like a bunch of (pretty) pretzels but, served in a bowl of coconut milk it’s the first dish which boasts a more obvious Thai heritage both in taste and fragrance. Similarly, the Chalk Stream Trout is served with a sour curry and prawn consommé droplets whilst the three different styles of chicken is presented as the official ‘main’ course.Breast, double-sided terrine and small chunks of chicken heart surround a pepper and garlic infused green curry sauce. As if this wasn’t enough, oats work as rice supplement and are littered with pork scratching type chunks of crispy chicken skin and the multitudinous components of a squash and pear salad would surely prove a challenging memory test for anyone who could identify them all in the first place.
Not many people know this but chef and Anglo Thai co-owner John Chantarasak used to be a drummer in indie rock band, Fez. After the band brokeup, he toured America alone and started to appreciate the different cooking that Austin, Memphis, New Orleans etc, harboured. This inspired him to return to Bangkok (he’s half Thai), where he studied at famed Le Cordon Bleu Dusit to hone his love of and burgeoning interest in food. Along the way, he met his future wife, co-restaurant owner and chief Sommelier, Desiree, and together they hosted pop-ups, worked at residencies and after more years than anticipated, opened AngloThai. To their credit, AngloThai was awarded a Michelin star a mere three months after opening. It might seem like an overnight success but in reality has been years in the making and was a well-deserved and gratifying seal of approval for the husband, wife and Anglo Thai team.
A Hibiscus sorbet with dark cherry slices and a couple of nibbles of Krayasat acts as a rich palate cleanser before, perhaps, the most English-inspired dish – a Sticky Toffee pudding type dessert with cinnamon ice cream. In the latter, even seemingly innocuous small curves of apple still pack a hearty punch so that diners’ visual expectation is confounded by their taste buds. Wenzel, ‘Saz’ Ruster Ausbruch, a luxurious Austrian sweet wine inspired by the Hungarian Tokay, rounds off the wine pairings and a meal which takes over three hours to complete. With local, British sourced ingredients which are challenged but ultimately complemented by Thai-inspired finessing, AngloThai presents an elegant combination which is thrilling, pleasing and utterly unique.
