Updated ,first published
Thai$
Fast, friendly no-frills Thatowni diner.
Opened by Vin and Nararat Carromprath in 2020, this modest BYO-only restaurant specialises in Isan-style cooking from Thailand’s north-east, but the broad menu (it just keeps going, laminated photo-filled page after page) provides plenty of opportunities to dive headfirst into toms, gaengs and yums from all corners of the country.
But it’s the hotpots that are most enthralling, particularly the jaew-hon, a traditional Isan soup powered by pork bones and supercharged with lemongrass, galangal and makrut lime. It comes to the table in a little pot on a gas burner, accompanied by a raw smorgasbord of prawns, liver, beef, pork, chicken and squid to dunk and cook, plus a potent dipping sauce (nam jim jaew) underlined by roasted and ground sticky rice.
The som tums are good here too, and the comfort-pain paradox of lime-zapped larb is a special kind of addiction. A cuttlefish kra pow stir-fry of holy basil is fire-powered by ruthless slips of chili, while the boat noodle soups pulse with ancient spice and blood. Heady stuff. Assorted coconut desserts will bring you back down to earth.
Good to know: We’re also big fans of Huamoom, Satang, Seri Bar and Yok Yor in Thaitown, but that’s only the beginning of Haymarket’s evolving ecosystem of fish sauce and Singha.
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Last visited: 2025
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