Nakhon Thai - Best of the Worst?

Thai comes second to Japanese in terms of my favourite cuisine. It has diversity in both methods and ingredients, using spices and herbs unheard of on this side of the world. Back in Chelsea, Thai Rice used to be my number one restaurant. The menu a variety of Thai curries, and it doesn’t try to integrate the odd Chinese black bean sauce stir-fry into the menu.

Unfortunately Canary Wharf is on the wrong side of London. Sri Nam doesn’t even pass as an oriental eatery, let alone fine-dining Thai. Nakhon is located on the quieter West Ferry Road, it boasts full-length windows, an outside terrace, and a downstairs bar.

We were led upstairs upon arrival. The restaurant was decorated with the stereotypical golden Thai Buddha, masks and chocolate brown wood against purple painted walls. It was exotic elegance. The servers were dressed in traditional gold-lined costumes, stunningly beautiful. We were the only couple apart from a party of 6 on a Friday evening.

The menu was printed in a string-bounded booklet, on thick gold-dusted papers.  I was impressed. Instead of the usual mix & match (where curries can be paired with any meat of choice), the chef has shown insistence. Green curry tastes best with chicken, Massamun best matches with lamb, Red curry goes hand-in-hand with duck.

Hoy Shell Yang (Grilled scallops with a red chili & lime sauce) - £8.95

The scallops were round, plump and downright gorgeous. They were grilled on shell, with a generous drizzle of lime chili sauce, dabbed with oil. The scallops were just cooked, if not slightly under, to retain its creamy texture that blended effortlessly with the zing in the chilies and zest of the lime.

Satay Nuea (Marinated chargrill sirloin beef) - £7.15

This was one of the chef’s specialties, the one which he completely failed. There was no marinade to speak of. The meat was grilled to death and so sinewy that no amount of peanut sauce could help to restore its “swallowability”. One dead dish.

Tables were being filled with more couples around 9. The atmosphere eased up with soft murmuring in the background.

Lamb & Herbs (Stir-fried lamb with a spicy coconut sauce with thai herbs) - £8.70

(Right). I remember it being very spicy, very herby, but most importantly, the lamb was again cooked to absolute lifelessness. Might as well replace the lamb with cardboard, which would have soaked up more curry than the meat did. The spicy coconut sauce, on the other hand, was complex with distinctive layers of flavours, balanced by the fragrance of coconut.

Gaeng Ped Yang (Roast duck in unique tangy pineapple & grape coconut sauce) - £9.80

It’s basically red curry. Guess what I’m going to say? Yup, you got it. The duck must have been cooked 5 times to make sure it was certified. Roast duck carries an intrinsic dense texture with a hint of gaminess, and here the duck turns rubber with a flimsy trim of stringy fat attached. The red curry itself was great.

Mango Sticky Rice - £4.80

No Thai meal is complete without the mango sticky rice. I have developed a second stomach chamber for this. Glutinous rice rarely goes wrong, given enough sugar, cooking time and coconut milk. Nakhon got it all right. I don’t blame it for an under-ripe mango,  we are deep in the winter afterall.

As you can tell, I only have one complaint: the meats. Everything else about the dishes was authentic and delightful. Was it a huge problem? Not really for me. I just left all the meats on the plate. It just somewhat defies the purpose of pairing the meats with the protein. Given the lack of choice in the neighbourhood, this is the best it has to offer.

Nakhon Thai

45 Westferry Road

Canary Wharf

London

E14 8GJ

Tel: 0207 719 8888

El Faro – the Pig in the Lighthouse

I felt bad dragging Cynthia all the way into the Isle of Dogs. Technically, I didn’t. I just told her what my colleague said about this fine-dining, award-winning Spanish restaurant that serves suckling pigs like no other. She was in.

It was too cold to sit outside, but we still enjoyed a partial river view by the window. The place was almost full on a Tuesday evening with a buzzing atmosphere with dimmed lights and candles. Décor was a cross between rustic and chic – brick walls with arched full-length windows, clashing spectacularly with the black and white pillars and ugly modern art paintings (scribble?).

The wine list was mindboggling; divided by regions, followed by a description of the terroirs, further categorised by age and then finally meaningful notes on each bottle. Geography textbook and wine list in one, eh?

Selection of our finest cured meats from Sanchez Romero Carvajal in Huelva

Three hams with three distinctive flavours. Chorizo/saucisson/salami are simply not my cup of tea, so I shan’t comment. The leaner one on the right, sliced wafer-thin was gorgeously nutty and strongly meaty. The fatty was equally charming with a subdued sweetness where the line of fat lies.

Grilled octopus accompanied by creamy rice with cheese from Mahon served with ‘sobrasada’ and honey

I thought this was the only tapas worth mentioning. The blobs of octopus were fresh and bouncy, lightly seasoned so we could still taste the sea. The creamy rice drizzled with honey was superb, and the paprika gave the octopus a good kick. It was a poise combination.

We order a few other tapas dishes:

o       Deep-fried fresh baby squid served with aioli dipping sauce;

o       Fresh squid cooked Andalusian style served with romesco sauce.

o       Homemade croquettes served with potato foam

o       Iberian pork belly and cured meat sandwich served with tomato confit and caramelized onions.

I wasn’t keen on the deep-fried dishes, which had a thick layer of lumpy and rock-like coating. The romesco sauce was simply salsa, and there is only so much garlic mayonnaise one can eat before starting to feel very ill. The foam, the confit, the meat sandwich were unnecessary, the extra efforts did little to enhance the food, it felt like doing work for the sake of doing work.

Roasted baby lamb rolls served with Spanish smoked cheese croquettes, cured meat and a Rioja wine sauce

For a main course, the portion is kids-size. If we weigh up the meat, it might just be slightly heavier than the lamb chops tapas served in Barrafina. The characteristic tang of lamb comes from its fat; this baby lamb was definitely a skinny one, it could have been any meat. Nonetheless the cooking was spot-on, lamb was spongy and absorbed the refined Rioja sauce; melted cheese erupted upon cutting; not sure what the cardboard cured meat was doing though.

Roasted Iberian suckling pig from Segovia served with a mashed potato and savoy cabbage roll, pancetta and oven roasted shallot purée

This was what I came for. The portion concept at El-Faro still baffles me. Even after our server divided the pig into 3 equal portions, one serving was still larger than the lamb rolls. Anyway, the pig was roasted to perfection, delicate and cracking skin with a layer of half-melted fat, followed by tender pork. The sauce on the side was uncalled for since the meat itself was well-seasoned and piggy. Definitely a signature.

Pistachio biscuit topped with homemade soft cheese served with coffee jelly and a hazelnut and chocolate lollypop

On paper, the combination could not have been more disconnected. The reality reflects it. Pistachio biscuits were actually thin, dehydrated sponge cakes, and the mascarpone dollop did little to revive them. The coffee jelly was fun to eat, because spooning slimy jelly strips on a flat board was a frustrating challenge. More importantly, none of the items were sweet.

Muscovado sugar sponge stuffed with saffron cream served with caramelised pears and Licor 43 jelly

This was better with a moist sponge and fragrant saffron cream the mild liqueur. The crunchy pear cubes, squishy sponge and firm jelly didn’t blend well, I wasn’t mad about it.

The bill came to £175 for 3 plus a bottle of Rioja, very reasonably priced. This was above-par by Canary Wharf standard. West-end? Okay. Mayfair? Maybe. There is still much uncertainty around El Faro despite the number of dishes we sampled. I felt it executed the complex recipes excellently, but the basics were on the sloppy side. Some of the combinations were inspiring and harmonised; others were less engaging. Nonetheless, there are things worth coming back for.

El Faro

3 Turnberry Quay

Pepper Street

London

E14 9RD

Tel: 0207 987 5511