Ask any gastrophile to list their favourite dishes and you may be some time. Although open for just three months in central Soho (the venue began life as a Borough Market pop-up), Khao Bird’s mutton fries could be one of those dishes. Diners will leave not only salivating but also dashing to return soon.
To wax too lyrical about the fries – and rest assured, we will discuss them – is to do the restaurant a disservice. Khao Bird’s angle is northern Thai cooking with some crossover into Burma, pimped for 2020s London. It is cool and knows so. The venue is decked out in neon and exposed piping with not a lot else. Efficient and friendly staff dance around the tables – space is at a premium – and everyone appeared to be having a good time. Restaurants either capture the zeitgeist, or they don’t. Khao Bird does.
Your reviewer is always delighted by brief menus. It takes the stress out of pondering too long. With just five starters and six mains, Khao Bird’s is mercifully brief. Everything is intended for sharing, obviously. Our trio was happily able to rove across the list, selecting three smaller plates and two larger ones, a perfect amount for a weekday lunch. Accompanying Thai beer helped things along. Savvy guests can also benefit from a set menu, while specials are listed on a blackboard.
We kicked things off with some amazingly decadent ‘shan’ meatballs. These comprised chicken wrapped in pork fat, judiciously spiced, with garlic and ginger added. One bite saw them melt in the mouth, very happily. Next followed the mutton fries. Readers should be aware that your reviewer rarely eats chips. For these, he would make an exception. Every time. The menu cheekily says that they have been “fried many times” but the trick is to top them with a shouty braised Burmese mutton curry. Add a bit of sour cream and some crispy leaves and you have an almost perfect combo.
Even more impressively, none of the subsequent dishes proved an anti-climax. The culinary dexterity of the kitchen was abundant, evidenced across a lush prawn salad (lifted by a steamed egg mixed in), a deeply intense pork curry, and finally a khao soi northern curry, served with noodles. At less than £40 a head all in, this is an experience not to be missed.