Thursday 22 December 2016

RESTAURANT REVIEW: Kiln



I'm annoyed at myself for never mentioning the Smoking Goat or Som Sa on this blog because they'd make a great reference for talking about brand new Kiln. This tiny restaurant, brought to you by the people behind Smoking Goat, is located in the heart of Soho and is serving up unbelievably delicious Thai food, with a focus on grilling. Don't expect a green Thai curry or Pad Thai here because this restaurant is about using traditional Thai flavours (hot, sour and sweet) in a modern and inventive way.

As with most restaurants in London these days the menu is based around sharing plates but I found most items to be generously sized therefore you don't need to go overboard with the ordering. 



The menu offers 3 different skewers (1 serving per portion) so we opted to share the Aged Lamb & Cumin Skewer and the Slow Grilled Chicken & Soy. Both were delicious and I wouldn't have minded having one to myself. The chicken, which I often dismiss for a dull choice, was succulent and full of flavour. In fact I don't remember tasting chicken this good for quite some time. The lamb was a delight as well, the cumin gave it a deep flavour and the meat was incredible tender.

Definitely start your meal at Kiln with a few of these.


We decided to forgo any rice for the Clay Pot Baked Glass Noodles with Tamworth Belly & Brown Crab meat. This was probably my least favourite thing we ate. I really love rice, especially Thai rice, and because the noodles didn't actually taste like much I thought the whole plate was a little underwhelming. Plus the noodles don't do a very good job at mopping up leftover curry. I'll definitely be ordering the rice next time.


The menu has many different curries, with meat or fish options. I visited with a non fish eating friend so we jumped straight to the meat section. I really enjoyed the Southern Style Dry Pork Curry. The pork was cut up so small, akin to the texture of rice, which is probably another reason I enjoyed this one so much.



Both the Roast Long Pepper and Mangalitsa Shoulder Curry and Wild Ginger and Pumpkin Curry from Burma were wonderful. The pork curry was hot but addictive. The flavour with deep, dramatic and absolutely delicious. One of my favourite things on the menu. Whilst the pumpkin was slightly cooler on the spice barometer it is still big in flavour. The curry has sweet undertones, yet still full of spice thanks to the ginger - a delicious veggie option.

I absolutely loved Kiln and think it's a much welcomed addition to the London food scene. BBQ style Thai food is having a bit of a thing recently and it's a trend I am embracing in full. The deep, dramatic SE Asian flavours are moreish, comforting yet still exciting and thanks to a menu full of extremely good value plates of food I think Kiln will turn into a firm Soho favourite. Plus the drama of sitting around the bar and watching the chefs do their thing only adds to the excitement of it all. I'll be back to visit ASAP.

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