Soi. Thai

Soi.Thai sits about halfway along Battersea’s Northcote Road. In previous incarnations it’s hosted many different cuisines, most recently Greek and only opened in its present guise about a month ago. The interior feels rather chichi, done out in slightly worn looking blue tiling, left over from a brief experiment in Persian cuisine if I remember correctly.

It was a cliched dark and stormy night when we visited, the rain coming down not in sheets but an almost duvet like intensity. Inside however the welcome was warm, friendly, and bustling. I had taken the option of reserving a table, this transpired to be a wise decision as it was much busier than would have been expected on such an evening.

The menu is a mix of Thai classics and house specials. There are all the stir fries, curries, and Pad Thais you could wish for, with the standard mix of colours and meats. Somewhat unusually for a new venture, it is licenced with wines going from the low to high twenties in price. I selected something from the lower slopes, a Sicilian wine with a good flinty taste that I was surprised to list for about £22.

For starters we had ordered the mixed platter, again like many places recently this was more pan Asian than what I’d think of as strictly Thai cuisine. It featured gyoza which were lovely and crispy on the outside, warm and flavourful on the inside. Delicious chicken satay sticks, spring rolls and sesame prawn toast, which though not Thai did not appear to be the ubiquitous Chinese supermarket versions either. This rounded off with crispy, palate cleansing fresh rolls made this one of the most satisfying sharing platters I have tasted.

I’m a sucker for silly names for dishes, and with one of the house specials being called one duck in Bangkok you’d have got long odds on me not ordering it. This was a concoction of duck, pineapple, curry and other fresh but spicy flavours. The duck was tender, tasted good and with a great texture and was again one of the best duck dishes I have ever enjoyed.

My dining companion’s less adventurous chicken green curry was also very good, with well defined flavours, unlike some of the underpowered dishes I have encountered. With the main courses we split a portion of rice, and the whole meal was devoured in slightly less than an hour.

This was about my only quibble, the price point of about £40 was good. The food and drink bordering on exceptional, I just wished I’d made more time to enjoy rather than my jaws going faster than paper shredder on amphetamines. The only other thing I’d say is that the décor is starting to look a bit worn around the edges.

So here’s my recommendation if you like food…go. If you like Thai food…go now. I’m certain that this place will become a local legend and will shortly be swamped by food trendies coming from far and wide, so do yourself a favour and get duck in!

Rob

Soi.Thai 78 Northcote Rd, London SW11 6QL