Som Saa
43A Commercial St
London E1 6BD
Nearest Tube: Aldgate East
4 Yummy stars
Price ££ Starters/soup/salad £7.5-£10; Mains £9.5-£17.5; separate Lunch Menu (at time of writing)
☏ 020 7324 7790
Excellent Thai food with a vibe
Iced Tea with Popcorn at Som Saa in Spitalfields
Buzz factor 4/5 stars
Food 4/5 stars
Value for money 4/5 stars
Minutes from Spitalfields market. It attracts a young crowd, happy to wait for a table at the bar. As is the trend these days, walk-ins are welcome (which may be good for someone like me who doesn’t always bother to reserve a table well in advance). All is not lost, as you can still book for lunch and if you can find 3 other friends together, you can book for supper too.
Industrial feel with exposed and tall ceilings and bare brick walls, the place was buzzing in the evenings. Unless you can lipread, your friends may have to shout if you want to hear them. The staff was friendly and we had no problem in getting their attention despite the crowds. Try waving manically with your iPhone light on.
Andy Oliver, one of the chefs, was a 2009 Masterchef finalist and had, since, worked under David Thompson, the famed Thai cuisine guru. As the story goes, Som Saa started life as a pop up in Hackney and very quickly raised more than they had hoped for through crowd-funding and the rest is history.
The chefs are not afraid to use their chillis and spices in their take on North-eastern Thai food. So, be prepared for the ride (and perhaps bring a yoghurt with you). Their curries have been consistently good eg braised beef cheek with chilli vinegar sauce, though sad to see their goat curry disappear from their menu. The goat curry was so tender and flavoursome. Perhaps in years to come, it will become more readily available and Londoners will get to enjoy it. Their grilled long aubergine salad with egg and prawn floss was also quite a find. However, the best was saved to the last – the salted palm sugar ice cream with turmeric grilled banana was just heavenly. You just got to taste it to believe it.
This is the place where you will forever be converted from ordering your usual Thai green curry or Pad Thai. Thank goodness that they are not on the menu.
