Little insider knowledge, my wife is Thai and I’ve visited Thailand over a dozen times, got married there blah blah blah. The world is full of people who love Thai food, of course it is It’s fucking epic. Unless it’s shit, then it’s proper shit. But London to its credit is full of amazing Thai restaurants right now. I’ve been to most. They’ve all been good.
Kolae in the Borough market I’ve been to three times (it is that good!) But Plaza Khao Gaeng next to Tottenham Court Road was my first time. Pin has been. And she’s been trying to get me to go ever since.
She said it was the best thing since Thailand (since she moved from Thailand obviously) So we squeezed in a visit just before getting the train from Euston back to Carlisle. It opens at 12. Our train was 1.15, it was tight. (if you know me I like to be early, really early , for planes trains and automobiles)
Inside you genuinely feel like you’re in a little Thai place in Bangkok. Plastic crockery, electric fans everywhere, Thai music on the stereo, little cutlery boxes on each table. The kind of place that is cheap to set up in Bangkok but probably ludicrously expensive to replicate authentically in London.
To start
Obviously a glass of draught Singha, served ice ice cold! As it should be. Then some Hat Yai style fried chicken topped with crispy onions. It was good. Crispy, well seasoned, but to the horror of Pin, Off the bone. I can only assume this is for speed of service or perhaps rather pathetically because some British people can’t handle meat served on the bone. Always catering to the lowest denominator is a strange idea to me, but I can accept why others do it in London in 2026.
It was probably about as good as Thai fried chicken can get when it’s taken off the bone. Tasty. But not as juicy.
I ordered a Massaman and Pin a Kua Kling (spicy as fuck mince with lime leaves, green peppercorns and chillies, served dry) Rice and roti.
Before the waitress had put the order in I noticed the specials. Coconut curry of pork with kaffir lime leaves. No further advertisement needed. I quickly changed my order. It was next level. Like a penang, but not quite. Lighter but with the same lip smacking, sensory overloading flavour you’d expect. It was a small bowl, Thailand portions here, but London “friendly” prices, £12.50 seems a steal. The generosity isn’t in the portion size, it’s in the taste.
To create real Thai taste you have to be generous with the aromatics. Handfuls of lime leaves. Heaped spoons of curry paste in a single bowl of massaman. If you’re stingy, it’s still good. But it’s not next level.
And that’s what everything here was.
Next level. But authentic.
It could have been a tragic pastiche of a Thai restaurant.
Think of every gimmicky Irish pub you’ve been to around the world. Then think of the ones
you’ve been to in Dublin. Totally different.
But Plaza Khao Gaeng isn’t that.
It’s great. It’s the closest I’ve felt to being in Thailand since I was last in Thailand. (Pin was right!)
Have I had better Thai food in London, yes,
The Gaeng som at Kolae may just be the best Thai dish I’ve ever had, anywhere, ever, But Plaza Khao Gaeng is what Thailand is to me. It’s what I love about going there, it serves the food I like, how I like it. And it does it properly (apart from a bone or two in the fried chicken )