Nahm

[Andy Lynes]

You may well have seen a number of reviews of this new Thai restaurant in London's Halkin hotel. It's run by the latest uber chef from down under to be hailed as the next big thing, David Thompson. However, on Saturday, Matthew Fort of The Guardian awarded 18.5 out of 20 whilst Johathan Meades gave it 1 out of 10 and was very unpleasant about it. So which of the critics is right. Has one or the other revelled themselves to be wearing the emporers new clothes, and in fact don't know what they are talking about? Or is it just a difference of opinion that could have happened between any of the critics at anytime.

Has anyone actually eaten there yet?      

[Simon Majumdar]

Hi Andy

My first egullet post

I have eaten there and while the food was extra ordinary, so were the prices.  Well over £200 for two.  I would neither agree with the IOS kiss asses or Meade's invective.

At that price, I would not rush back unless it was an expense account dinner.

The service was also pretty strange.

S

[Andy Lynes]

Simon, a huge welcome on behalf of eGullet. I hope this is the first of many posts. For those of you not in the know, Simon was (is?) the UK backbone of at least one other food message board. He is extremely "well eaten" if I can put it that way and will hopefully be sharing his insights on a regular basis.

£200.00 is an awful lot of money for any meal, let alone food from a cuisine that most would associate with a very informal restaurant experience. Did you read the caterer article where he said that he never eats out at Thai restaurants because you find the best food in the home. Talk about shooting yourself in the foot.      

[magnolia]

I'm glad for once the critics are divided. They usually move en masse , which is extremely frustrating - what's the point of a critic anyway if not to render an opinion? I am surprised Meades was unpleasant - that's usually AA GIll's territory - but as a whole, I find the critics with the possible exception of Meades and Rayner - to be sheeplike in their coverage - they all go to the same places probably within days of each other and it almost seems as if they read each others' reviews so they can corroborate. Readers should try a few of the places that a critic reviews favorably to determine if that critic has the same taste as the reader...and if they disagree with the critic, follow a different critic's recommendation.

[Andy Lynes]

i think they follow Fay Maschler around. More likely however is that they simply go to wherever the most impressive press release has eminated from that week. Although Matthew Fort does have a tendancy to wander off into the middle of nowhere now and again.

[Benedict Jenks]

Went there with a friend two Fridays ago.  Service was absolutely terrible and at these prices it is inexcusable.  We ordered the set meal and every time we asked when we would get some food we just carried on waiting.  The starters were Ok but nothing special - lacked excitement and precision of flavours.  We then waited nearly an hour for the main courses.  The main courses were very good and highly and aromatically spiced but well defined with different aromatics not just heat.  We ended up waiting over an hour for the desert and went to complain to the management.  The desert finally came but by then we had lost interest - a shame as they were very good - especially the sticky rice.

Management dealt with our complaints extremely well when we finally spoke to them rather than the waiters.

At these prices the service is unacceptable and I will not be in a hurry to go back - There was a perfectly good Italian restaurant there before and I can't understand why the hotel management have changed it.

[Andy Lynes]

Benedict - what an awful experience, which must have been very frustrating as the food sounds so good. I would really want to be delighted with everything at those prices, they would raise my expectations sky high.

Stephano Cavallini used to run the restaurant before, and he has now opened a deli somewhere. I don't know if he jumped and they had to get David Thompson in, or was pushed so that they could.

[Gavin Convery]

I know I'm a bit late on the bandwagon here but I just found this website.

My experience at Nahm was very enjoyable and an interesting comparison to my favourite Thai - Mantannah in Norwood. I don't remember the cost (so it must have been a lot!) and the waiting staff were fine and good looking enough to keep my wife drooling.

I would definitely go here again as some of the flavours were unlike any I had tasted and I'm always looking for new tastes.

[Andy Lynes]

Gavin, it's really nice when new users add to existing and perhaps overlooked threads. In the 5 months this site has officially been open, we have already amassed quite a large archive of useful information and opinions. I think it's great that people can use and add to that at anytime.

The site is yet young, give it a couple of years and you will be able to boast that you were one of the first on the bandwagon      

[chaudfroidoeuf]

I'd have to agree with Simon and J. Meades on Nahm.   Based on my visit in late September, certain of the ancient Thai recipes pursued by David Thompson brought relatively new flavor combinations, but lacked subtlety and relied on excessive seasoning.  

For those interested, here are details.  Some of the dishes were not described in at least the first round of reviews, and may be useful for those considering a visit.  (Background: I'm receptive to spicy foods, but admit to a dire preference for French food :))

Ma Hor (minced prawns and chicken simmered in palm sugar with deep fried shallots, garlic and peanuts, served on pineapples and mandarins):  This dish sounded better than it tasted, although it had generally been well-received in most reviews.  For me, the blended ingredients were unduly paste-like in texture.

Dtam Yam Pla Grapong (hot and sour soup with sea bass):  How could I resist ordering sea bass soup?  In hindsight, I should have.  The hot flavors were unbridled; the sour aspects were not well-integrated.  More troublingly, there was a small green pepper in the soup that, when bitten into, literally left my eyes tearing (for the wrong reasons, of course!) and my mouth feeling blighted.  This and certain other dishes were too aggressive for me.

Yam Hoi Shenn (salad of scallops with green mango, samphire, mint and chillis): The thing scallop slices, though tender, were heavy-handedly riddled with lime juice and coriander.

Geng Pet Pla (red curry of turbot with kaftir lime leaves and coriander): The fish was quite nice, but the red curry resembled others I had had at many other Thai restaurants.

Geng Hong Nok Heun (red leg partridge braised with lily stalks): Again, the dish sounded good, especially when i love nasturtium flowers (Arpege) and have also found interesting courgette flowers (Chanterelle in NYC), violets (syrup common in Provence; possible use with champagne) and oxalis (wood sorrel has white flowers that are at times used in an amuse-bouche at Auberge de l'Eridan).  However, the taste of the partridge was difficult to discern amidst the very spicy, accompanying brown sauce.

Mangosteen fruit with sweet rice:  This dessert, with a fruit I tried for the first time, was a welcome relief from the rest of the meal.

For Andy:  Your responses to everybody help dialogue on this site.  I am also new to this site.

[Andy Lynes]

Thanks for the detail and the kind words. So far then, the service seems to have been singled out for criticism, but also the food not really delivering the sensations you should expect at that price point. I don't know about anybody else, but I must admit I am well and truely put off trying this place.  

[Matthew Grant]

My experience at Nahm was really good. Food was very different to the normal Thai food served in London. Service was average, 3 different waiters during our meal, they were so confused that we had our starters twice (they were happy to let us eat the erronous dish and we were happy to do so). As is traditional, all the dishes were served at the same time with the exception of the starters.

Flavours were distinct and everything tasted remarkably fresh. The prices are very high but I think that this will be the next Asian restaurant (following Zaika and Tamarind) to win Michelin stars and my prediction is that it will win 2! :-)

A quick note for Gavin (below) Manatanah was a superb restaurant, I was disturbed to find that Tym Yeoh and her husband have now left. I was talking to the new owners and they semed to have no idea how good this restaurant had once been, they hadn't learnt the dishes and I was proudly told that they were going to make the dishes 'more English'. If anybody has any details on where the previous owners have moved to, please let us know :-(

[cabrales]

As mentioned in another post, Jonathan Meades is no longer going to write on food.  In his second-to-last food column, he summarized his assessments of various restaurants he had visited over the course of the year.   He accorded Nahm a "1" (out of 10).  That would also be my assessment of the restaurant.  With all respect, I would say that a diner would either like Nahm quite a bit or not like it at all  :)  

Matthew -- I would agree that the Nahm flavors were distinct (and also distinctive relative to one another).  However, were the flavors not too powerful for you, in view of the other ingredients in the dishes?

[Matthew Grant]

Cabrales, The food at Nahm was very different to your normal sort of Thai cuisine, I think its fair to say that it is very authentic. I also think it is fair to say that it isn't Haute Cuisine as we know it. Once you get past the sweetness and heat of the dishes I think they meld well together.

You need to visit this restaurant with an open mind. If you come thinking it is going to be like your average high street Thai (all lemongrass and granulated sugar) but a bit better you may be disappointed, if you come looking for a new experience then you will leave with a smile on your face.

One thing I did forget to mention: the desserts were in my opinion awful - exactly as I remember them in Thailand. This is one area that doesn't seem to excite western palates and David Thompson might do well to rethink the final dish.

[RossyW]

Has anyone eaten here recently? I'm a fan of David Thompson's Thai Cooking book and have been thinking about finding a great Thai restaurant, somewhere in the world, to stage at.

[Andy Lynes]

I was there in January and had an utterly delicious meal. Dessert was a bit disappointing and we probably could have been more adventurous in terms of ordering the hot dishes (we played safe and had a few of the more sweeter dishes which slightly unbalanced the meal), but it was excellent nevertheless.

[Corinna Dunne]

I had a great meal there back in November. It's really well priced for the quality of the food. Definitely worth a visit and I'd say a stage would be very interesting.

[RossyW]

I had a great meal there back in November. It's really well priced for the quality of the food. Definitely worth a visit and I'd say a stage would be very interesting.

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How far removed is the food from a basic great Thai place? Is it flashy and modernist and idiosyncratic, or is it familiar stuff just done really really well?

[PhilD]

I had a great meal there back in November. It's really well priced for the quality of the food. Definitely worth a visit and I'd say a stage would be very interesting.

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How far removed is the food from a basic great Thai place? Is it flashy and modernist and idiosyncratic, or is it familiar stuff just done really really well?

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I last ate there a few years ago, but was a regular at his main Sydney restaurant (Darley Street Thai) before he moved to London. If the cooking at Nahm is still the same, it is reminiscent of the recipes in his second book Thai Food (his first was called Classic Thai Cuisine). My take is that his goal is to produce really authentic Thai food, using classic Thai techniques rather than trying to fuse it into a modern take on Thai.

How far removed from your basic great Thai place? Unless you are very fortunate I would say it is very far removed it is definitely not a variant on fish cakes and green chicken curry.

Is it the place to stage? Maybe a better bet is to try for a stage at his Sydney restaurant Sailor Thai (I am pretty certain he still owns it and is executive chef). Sydney has a very vibrant Thai scene with some other chefs coking very very good thai food for example Martin Boetz at Longrain, who is more modern and innovative, or Sujet Saenkham at Spice I Am for very authentic Thai cooking. The range of Thai cooking in Sydney is outstanding, maybe not better than Thailand itself, but probably more accessible. Plus Sydney has some other chefs pushing the boundaries of their home cuisines - for example Kylie Kwong or Kuke Nguyen.

[Andy Lynes]

Maybe a better bet is to try for a stage at his Sydney restaurant Sailor Thai (I am pretty certain he still owns it and is executive chef).

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Thompson no longer has any involvement with Sailor Thai.

[PhilD]

Maybe a better bet is to try for a stage at his Sydney restaurant Sailor Thai (I am pretty certain he still owns it and is executive chef).

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Thompson no longer has any involvement with Sailor Thai.

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Andy do you know when he sold it?

My '07 SMH Good Food Guide has him and his business partner Peter Bowyer down as co-owners (Chef Ty Bellingham). I knew he was no longer actively cooking there but had inderstood he was still involved.

Edited May 8, 2008 by PhilD (log)

[Andy Lynes]

Andy do you know when he sold it?

My '07 SMH Good Food Guide has him and his business partner Peter Bowyer down as co-owners (Chef Ty Bellingham).

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He sold his shares to Peter Bowyer in early 07 - that's from the horses mouth.

[RossyW]

Andy do you know when he sold it?

My '07 SMH Good Food Guide has him and his business partner Peter Bowyer down as co-owners (Chef Ty Bellingham).

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He sold his shares to Peter Bowyer in early 07 - that's from the horses mouth.

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So is Thompson in the Nahm kitchen every day?

[chefmatt]

i am a big fan of nahm, although at lunch mainly as it is far less costly. andy is right, too many sweet dishes can unbalance the meal, but the staff should help you out in that respect.

it has the cleanest tasting thai food i have ever eaten, better than the rough and ready street food i ate in thailand, yes its fun while you are there but nahm really is the next level up. is there a term for when a restaurant betters the food it is using as its inspiration? Nahm, amaya, hakkasan etc, not to be cinfused with authenticity like bar shu.

also desserts are very basic, nice if you fancy something sweet but certainly not if you want to be impressed, mainly of thye sweet sticky rice and fruit variety.

[Andy Lynes]

andy is right, too many sweet dishes can unbalance the meal, but the staff should help you out in that respect.

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They did try - we went for all the dishes we really liked the sound of and our waitress told us we'd stumbled on a lot of sweet ones. I'd read that some of the dishes can be searingly hot so she had a tough time talking us out of them. We did change one or two choices but on reflection we should have taken her advice. However, a minor point and didn't spoil the meal.

David Thompson is employed as a consultant chef at Nahm and pays regular visits to the kitchen but says he just gets in the way when he's there and that it all runs smoothly without him - this is from my interview in Restaurant magazine with him by the way which is sadly not on line (RossyW - PM me and I'll email it over if you're interested).