Aand Another Vowel Please – Naamyaa, Isarn, and Thai Food in Islington

Thai food: the best of things, the worst of things. At its best, Thai food is a match for the best food in the world, and has an all-life-is-here quality. Certainly an all-flavours-are-here quality. On the flipside, nothing is more frustrating than the bland, overly sweet Thai food available all over town, in supermarkets, pubs, market stalls, and chain restaurants. I feel like thrusting David Thompson's brilliant 'Thai Food' book, with its oft-repeated phrases like "it should taste hot, sweet, sour, and salty" into the hands of those responsible. With Islington having been chosen as the first location in a new Thai "all day modern Bangkok cafe" chain, Naamyaa, from Alan Yau – he of Busaba Eathai, Hakkasan, Yauatcha, Wagamamma, etc. – it seemed like as good a time as any to do a blog about Thai food and what is available in the borough.

Thai food is responsible for many great food moments in my life. The first time I ever ate Thai food, in a restaurant called the Chiang Mai in Frith Street in the 1980s. A revelation, as it was to many at that time, new experience after new experience. Then the first time I ate real Thai food in Thailand, expectations low, in a non-descript caff in Phukhet called 'Mai Porn' (I have always assumed that means something different in Thai to the English meaning), with red Formica tables. I was absolutely blown away, and got high on the food. The first time I attempted Thai food myself, from a recipe in Keith Floyd's 'Far Flung Floyd' book .. well, the result may not have been great to an expert, but I was very pleased, amazed in fact, that I could make something that tasted that good so easily. Since then I have discovered David Thompson's bible and never looked back.

One of the things I love about Thai food tradition (apart from the awesome food) is eating with a spoon. It makes you feel like a baby, in a good way, i.e. in a the-world-is-taking-care-of-my-needs sort of way rather than a frustrated-and-powerless sort of way. My one strict policy with Thai food in London is never to order green curry. Although I consider it one of the ten best dishes ever invented, ordering it in London is bound to be disappointing, as it always seems to taste bland with neither a sufficient chilli kick, depth, or much flavour of chicken. Far better to make your own following David Thompson's recipe with good quality chicken (yeah I know, I’ll shut up about that book now) - easy to do, and always superior to anything you get in the street or restaurants in Britain.

On to Naamyaa then, and while I am not a huge fan of the Alan Yau model of founding a good restaurant or chain then selling it on (with the inevitable decline in quality that follows), it must be said that the guy is free to do what he likes and it's really none of my business. It should also be said that overall his activities have made a huge contribution to increasing the quality of food available in London and the UK.

Anyway, Naamyaa. I have to say I was attracted by the 'concept' (horrible word) of a Thai all-day cafe - I love anything that stays open all day, except Starbucks – which would be based around Khanom Jin noodle dishes and include a breakfast menu. First impressions of the interior were disappointing in that it didn't seem to match this idea at all, in fact it clashes with it quite strikingly – its all a bit pazzazzy and feels much more like the lobby of a snazzy New York hotel than a Thai cafe. It smells of money. Some people will like it I'm sure.

I did like the food though. The beef curry Khanom Jin noodle set was very tasty indeed, and I liked the accompaniments and the soup it came with. As soon as I put it in my mouth it tasted like proper Thai food. You know, like, Thai Thai food. I'll leave it up to any Thai London food bloggers out there to tell me whether this was actually an authentic experience or not. All I can tell you is that it didn't disappoint me in the way that Thai food normally does. I did not get as stuck into the menu as I would have liked, which is partly why this post is more about first-impressions and comparisons than a full 'review', but the food was definitely good enough, and good enough value, to make me want to return with a larger party and pig out. The menu also has a Laksa section, which is intruiging (I generally associate Laksa with Malaysia and Singapore), and even burgers, which I doubt I would ever get round to trying.

The beer selection is pretty boring for a new opening, and poorly matched with the food, but they are hardly alone in that. The one concession to proper beer is a very bland Meantime pale ale, while the food is crying out for a sharp bitter hoppy ale, or a good quality wheat beer. Places like this need to get with the programme when it comes to beer. London is changing. As Bob Dylan might say, something is happening here but you don't know what it is.

A little stroll up Upper Street from Naamyaa, Isarn has been around for a good few years now, and has always had its fans. My one previous visit, shortly after it opened, was a disappointment, particularly given the slightly overdone hype when it opened. I seem to remember there was some much-mentioned connection to Alan Yau at the time. On my return recently I sampled the £6.95 bento-style lunch sets, and I have to say it was incredible value. Tender chicken satay, delicious and hot duck red curry, again with tender meat (duck curry is so often tough) and some fruit. My return to Isarn was so impressive that I felt foolish to have ignored it all this time. As with Naamyaa I intend to revisit for a full a la carte meal soon.

We'll skip past the profoundly mediocre chain Thai Square, which gives me horrific acid-flashbacks of a time when I used to have to attend stilted work lunches in the City, on the occasion of somebody leaving or a dull executive type from overseas visiting. Hardly Thai Square's fault perhaps, but its not going to make me big them up any. And they don't need my help anyway. Mediocrity sells.

Nid Ting at the Archway end of Holloway Road is definitely worth a mention. It is a very nice local Thai, run by a charming family, and benefits from its location in Archway which, while not exactly a desert, is not overly blessed with good restaurants. It is too brightly lit and has daft Thai pop music piped into the restaurant, but that kind of adds to the authenticity for me. So, nice to have if you live nearby, but perhaps unlikely to inspire foodie pilgrimages. The Thai Corner Cafe on St Pauls Road is pleasant enough for a relaxed meal with friends, but it is definitely not going to win any awards. The Thai stall on Chapel Market is in the same vein as similar stalls around London – nice enough for a quick lunch in the park, but somewhat bland and a million miles away from street food as it would be in Thailand. I'd rather that such stalls were there than not there, I just wish they were a lot better than they are.

Naamyaa on first evidence then, has to be considered a good addition to the area and definitely worth checking out. Isarn is hanging in there too - highly recommended for a nice, good value lunch. Thai food in general remains yet another useful foodie metaphor for life – moments of joy punctuated with moments of disappoinment, but hopefully improving imperceptibly along the way.

Naamyaa Cafe
407 St John Street
London EC1V 4AB
http://www.naamyaa.com/

Nid Ting

533 Holloway Road

London N19 4BT

020 7263 0506

Isarn
119 Upper Street
London N1 1QP
http://www.isarn.co.uk/

Because It's Worth It - Bistrot Bruno Loubet

The first time I walked into Bistrot Bruno Loubet, it was a Tuesday lunchtime, around noon. The man himself was in the kitchen, in his whites. A good sign. I had offered to "research" venues for a work Christmas lunch, and was nobly pounding the streets looking for a suitable place, perhaps sampling here and there as I went. They didn't have room for us for our lunch, but I decided to sit at the bar and order a little cheeky lunch of my own, while I was there. I am not the kind of person to whom solo dining comes naturally, but from the start I could not have felt more comfortable. Second good sign. Anyway I love sitting at the bar. Service always seems to be better because you can always attract someone's attention. Not wanting to overdo the whole treating-myself-for-no-reason thing, I skipped the tempting starters and stuck to a main course, with a glass of wine as a condiment. Choosing from the menu was agonising, but I plumped for a seafood cannelloni, and resolved to return many times. They brought me the bread, which is up there with the best restaurant bread I have ever eaten, the onion bread in particular. The good signs were piling up. Being a solo diner I got a whole basket of it to myself. The cannelloni was delicious, a great dish perfectly cooked, as they might say on Masterchef. Afterwards I had a coffee, which came with a little chocolate, and the bill came to less than £30, for what had felt like an utterly luxurious and stolen lunch.

Since then I have been back, both solo and accompanied, to sample the Hare Royale and other things I had missed on that first visit, and have never left disappointed. Recently the menu was overhauled, which gave me the excuse I needed to write a blog post about it. A dinner for four was arranged, and as expected, every dish was delicious, with the possible exception of an ever-so-slightly dry flourless chocolate cake. Wonderful bread as usual, incredible guinea-fowl Boudin Blanc in a small Garbure soup, braised oxtail, saddle of hare. (Sounds good, right? It is.) Mashed potato that is done in that proper way I never seem to manage at home. Tonka bean crème brûlée. I had been slightly nervous going in as I had raved about the place so much to my companions, who had never been before, but I shouldn’t have worried. The place is a banker. The good kind of banker.

I have no idea whether Bistrot Bruno Loubet has a Michelin star or not, and I don't care. I get the impression that the owners care much more about customers having an enjoyable time than they do about any Michelinigans. What I do know is that the value is outstanding. It is not a cheap restaurant, but for the quality of cooking, atmosphere, and service, I struggle to think of where you can get better value for money for this kind of meal. It is fancy and luxurious, but not at all stuffy, quite relaxed in atmosphere. It feels like the owners have really tried to make it the kind of place they would like to go to themselves. When you want a really nice, table-clothy kind of meal, without having to pay through the nose for it, and you don’t want to travel too far, this is the place. Or if you are just passing by yourself at lunchtime, you could always pop in and treat yourself. I won’t say "because you’re worth it". That would be cheesy. I’ll just say that Bistrot Bruno Loubet is.

Bistrot Bruno Loubet

St John’s Square

86-88 Clerkenwell Road

London EC1M 5RJ
http://www.bistrotbrunoloubet.com