Came by for lunch the other day and it was a world class experience! Kiln is a Thai restaurant located in the bustling Soho district and is featured in the Michelin guide as a Bib Gourmand. Made a reservation online and I was able to be seated upon arrival. Dining is available at the kitchen counter, bar, or in the basement dining room. Managed to get a seat by the kitchen counter and it was a very warm experience sitting in front of the grill. Bring a mask if one is sensitive to spices! The waitstaff were lovely and spent time explaining the menu that changes daily. Started off with the chicken and soy along with the rump with ubon relish and they were both excellent. The chicken thigh was grilled to perfection and super flavorful from the marination. The rump was cooked to perfection at a medium rare and the flavors were on point. The chef that made this personally presented this to me at the counter. Amazing! The glass noodles were fragrant and tasty. The crab portion was minimal and the pork belly had a smell to it... ~£30/head including VAT and service for lunch. Kiln takes credit cards and there was a £1 donation that was added to my bill which I requested them to remove... read more

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Verdict: It's... Ok. Definitely wouldn't get a reservation or wait longer than 10 minutes to get seated. I don't think I'll be back, and I wouldn't recommend this unless you were extremely uncultured and didn't know what real Asian food was like. Non-Asian folks may love this place - so take other reviews with a grain of salt (I personally am shocked at how highly rated this place is). The missus rates it lower than me (3/5 from me), so I give this place her rating cuz we were both... very sad about this. Missus and I showed up at 4pm on a Saturday in May. It was hella busy when we arrived, but quickly emptied out after we started getting our food. This place claims its Thai but they only have the spice part down... I doubt this is actually authentic. Maybe it's Southeast Asian inspired?? If anyone else knows please comment. The portion sizes are predictably small, and I don't think we ordered enough for two to be full, even though it was quite pricey (given the portion size). We ordered the rump cap, curry, clay pot, and a lager to drink. Nothing was that memorable - the rump cap was well made but the curry definitely made us question the cultural authenticity of this place. I wouldn't order the curries here - the meat dishes seem decent though. The ambiance in here is definitely loud, since sound carries - any conversation gets amplified and you can hear every word - even the annoying laughs or coughs are at volume 11 (so try to keep your voices down!). There's a background music track but it's faint and you can only barely hear it when anyone is talking. The restaurant layout is very good for communal dining, but really bad for intimate settings. If I were a dating man (I'm not), I wouldn't bring a date here. The service is also extremely slow - from when we ordered to when we got all of our food was roughly 45 min - which, given how hungry we were, and how empty the place was - inexcusable and really disappointing. Note: mandatory 12.5% service charge on top of your meal. read more

Food was excellent. Unique flavours and very well priced. Service was also very good, great recommendations. Lovely vibe in the restaurant. read more

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No clue what I ordered. The server chose what he recommended us. This place was such a cool dining experience sitting in front of the chefs and being able to taste each dish as they made in front of us. The carpaccio had a heavy spice kick to it with their Thai peppers in it. Would love to come back and try other foods here read more

I rarely write reviews like this, but I feel obligated to share my experience. I dined at Kiln in Soho and within hours of eating I became extremely ill. By the middle of the night I was nauseous, and by the next morning I was vomiting for several hours with fever, body aches, and severe stomach issues. This was not mild discomfort, it was one of the worst food-related illnesses I've experienced. I contacted the restaurant directly to handle this privately and gave them detailed information about timing, symptoms, and what I ate. While they responded and conducted an internal review (2 month process), they ultimately concluded there was "no cause for concern" and declined to take responsibility, offering only a complimentary "no queue" instead of a refund. I understand these situations can be difficult to prove definitively, but the timing and severity of the illness were hard to ignore. At a minimum, I would have expected a more customer-focused resolution. I had actually enjoyed Kiln in the past, which makes this even more disappointing. Just sharing my experience so others can make an informed decision. read more

Sat down and ordered my only request no pork in the noodles; after 27 minutes (yes I timed it) I heard the chef say one with no pork; at which time waitress comes over and says they never put my order in. I was watching the sous make noodles and watched as all had pork. They apologized but no let me get you a cocktail or something while it would take another 15 minutes at least to make me what I ordered! Such a disappointment this was the one spot in London I really wanted to go to and what's worse I'm now starving! read more

Reservations are recommended. I walked in with family, put our names down, and came back about two hours later. Get counter service if you can. It was a unique experience watching them cook over coal! This isn't your typical Thai food. It's more of a tapas style spot. Order about 2.5 dishes per person. Some of the dishes are spicy and I don't think there's the option to ask for mild. The staff recommended the Claypot Glass Noodles, Stir Fried Cornish Greens, Skewers, and Pad Pen (Pad Kra Pa). The Pad Pen was very spicy. They were kind enough to give us a small bit of rice. And the greens we ordered helped balance the meal. All in all, everything was great and service was fantastic. read more

Worth all of the hype and any wait time. This menu is so thoughtfully crafted and each dish is prepared to perfection with complex and addicting flavors. We got to sit at the counter and watch how the magic happens and their kitchen truly runs like a well oiled machine. But definitely wear layers because it gets hot by the open fire! Unfortunately they sold out of the rump for my first visit but the staff were super apologetic about it as I didn't find out until the end of my meal. Looking forward to my next trip back. read more

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To be fair, compare to the take out Thai place that open til 2am in the morning, this is way better. But if you're looking for amazing Thai food and pay a decent amount, this is not it. We ordered literally the entire menu. Not only did nothing really wow us, the price was not exactly nice either. Most of the food is either not big enough to share or it tasted very bland. The more flavorful dishes are waaaaaay too spicy and we are the kind of people who have experience Asian spicy in asia. I mean don't get me wrong - it's not the worst Thai food but I guess I have too much expectation for it to be flavorful. We booked 3 months in advance to get a table on a Friday night so it's not exactly somewhere you can just pop by. On top of that, there's no dessert at all. read more

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Service = good. Ambiance = romantic & hipster, yet, casual at the same time. Drinks = had 2 cocktails which were tasty but not strong. Glass size is smaller than what I'm use to. No garnish used on cocktails. Food = Thai influenced but had a "western" flavor forward profile. Portions were very small but tasty, nonetheless. 12.5% auto gratuity and 1%(?) charge for something else on all bills read more

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It's between a 3 and a 4. I just left the restaurant...it was a very packed house as we entered. The cooking area is very exciting with lot's of action. It's very understandable, the name--Kiln. The waiter was very good...we ordered quickly and the food came out very fast as well. Order the glass noodles--prawns--mackerel--bavette. We also ordered some cocktails. It was good. It was not great. The vibe inside was loud and busy. I was not experiencing FOMO..I couldn't care less about how hard it is to get in...I want great food. It's good. The bavette was probably the best meal, but nothing was fantastic. read more

Agnostically, very good bordering on great. For the price, excellent. The only reason I'm docking a star is that I ended up doing a walk in at the counter and found it to be uncomfortably cramped and, being as it was near the door, was very cold as it let in air every time someone came in or out. I would absolutely opt to sit at a table if I came back. Also, the food was definitely a tad too salty. I have a high sodium tolerance so for me to say that really means something. Now, onto the food. I had a glass of wine to start, and ordered the slow grilled chicken and soy to start (around £6). It was good, but nothing exceptional. I would probably skip if I came back. The stir fried Cornish greens were oddly my favourite dish (also around £6). Very generous portion, super flavourful, nice mix of greens. Would absolutely reorder. The clay pot noodles were excellent and a bargain at under £8 for a full dish that would be best split between two. I would absolutely reorder this dish. The kitchen somehow made a mistake and made an extra beef laap and the server offered it to me unprompted which I thought was delightful. I hate it when food gets wasted. I split it with the girls next to me. Unfortunately wasn't great, but can't complain as I didn't pay for it. Overall, would absolutely return. Great value for the money. read more

Kiln - Wine and chicken - Noodles Near Me - London, XGL

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I stopped here for lunch and I was delightfully surprised. The curries are flavorful and indeed spicy. Although some mishaps in the dishes served, service was good. I got a dish that I did not order and they took the dish I originally ordered (which later arrived) and the wrong one off the bill. The place is a little bit tight and probably sitting on the counter is your best option to see the kitchen at work. The ambiance, though, is that of a street food in Thailand after all. read more

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We stopped by without a reservation and added our name to the list - was told it would be about a 30min wait. I was surprised to discover how busy this place was for a Monday with the waitlist growing by the minute - very much a hot spot. We were escorted to our table 45mins later and although the staff was pleasant, the service was really slow. It took it bit long to be served water and place our order. Once the server took our order, our items arrived promptly - very much worth the wait. We ordered a variety of dishes and everything was delicious! This place is worth the trip if you're visiting London - I do recommend! read more

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Love everything about this gem in London! The ambiance is super awesome. Not a great place for an intimate date but a great place for a casual food with some good vibe music in the background. The employees work very hard and efficiently and the cooks all work very well together. Everyone is super friendly and genuine. They love working here and you can tell. Since the entire menu is delicious, people who eat here are happy so it makes their job much easier so it's very understandable. All that to say the food is amazing. Love all the uniqueness with the textures and flavors. Keep in mind they do not do dessert. read more

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This was outstanding. We got two cumin lamb skewers, sausage, grilled chicken, bavette salad, mushroom/mullet curry, dry lamb curry with sweetbreads, curry with mussels and cucumber, and a side of jasmine rice. The only thing we didn't love was the mullet -- everything else was really amazing. The sausage was spicy and perfect. The bavette salad had this amazing dressing, and the steak in it was cooked perfectly rare. Grilled chicken is usually boring, but this one was juicy and delicious. The lamb curry was also great, and the sweetbreads that came with it were among the best I've had. And the mussels were probably our favorite dish of the night, which is saying something for my wife because it was pretty spicy, and that's not normally her thing. If we had any complaint, it's that there were no rice or noodle dishes on the menu (the noodle dish you see on just about every Instagram post wasn't available), which made it less exciting for my wife. I think I'd be more excited to go back than her because of that. That said, the food we ordered was excellent, and the staff there was so incredibly nice -- we came with our two small children, who were loud and made huge messes, and the staff couldn't have been more accommodating and understanding. read more

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Service was really slow. There were not a lot of vegetarian options for my significant other. I ordered the pork, and I was very disappointed for the price that I paid for. Most of the pork was all fat. I am shocked that this is allegedly one of the top Thai restaurants in London. I am never coming back here again. read more

Phenomenal experience here. Had a bit of a wait so popped out to a nearby pub. Worth the wait. Got the laap sausage, slow grilled chicken, raw mutton, grilled rump cap, ox heart, glass noodles, and brown rice. All were great and almost all were fairly spicy, ranging from 4-7. The mutton and ox heart were the spiciest but went well with rice. The chicken was the best, had to go in for seconds. Glass noodles were great too. Everything we had was great, would definitely come back to try more. Vibes were fantastic. Fitting for the name, if you sit on the first floor it's all bar seating and you can see the prep line with big flames and clay pots. All in a dark setting with UK grime blasting in the back. Downstairs vibe is more chill, much more lighting with proper tables. Would recommend first floor bar seating if your party is small enough. read more

Kiln - Noodles Near Me - London, XGL

I've been a couple times now and everything is always fantastic. I love the rotation of the menu, keeping everything interesting and highlighting the best ingredients that they can get at the moment. The flavors are really great, the dishes are not your typical Thai restaurant dishes, though they share a lot in common they're regularly adjusted to highlight the top ingredients they have. The cocktails are fantastic, and like everything else on the menu, very reasonable. I'll continue to go back when I'm in London! read more

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The food here is incredible and diverse. Explosion of flavors. While it gets hot sitting by the cooking area, it is great to see them make the food and talk to the cooks about recommendations read more

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Came for lunch - sat at the counter. Fast service, great flavor. Laotian curry- herbal, fragrant. The fish was super tender and flavorful. It is quite spicy, the spice builds, so be warned! Radish salad was really refreshing- not overdone. The only dish I wasn't keen on was the clay pot with glass noodles. While the noodles were fine, you could hardly taste any crab meat. So that was disappointing. Tip: they do take walk-ins for bar/kitchen counter seating. But try to come early. There was a line already even before the restaurant opened for lunch. read more

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Thai Discoveries The best meals I've had this year have started with exploring the amazing flavors of Thai spices and fish sauce It started with Nara in SF and now culminates with London's SOHO gem Kiln, easily my best meal this year I had modest expectations given the approachable (and affordable) menu and didn't know of its award-winning pedigree The Northern Thai dishes are unlike any Thai I've tried before and the focus on Thai grilling and clay pot is completely novel Bookmark this and run, don't walk, to have your next meal here Native Lobster with Curried Head Meat £38 / Slow Grilled Chicken and Soy £5.80 / Grilled Rump Cap with Ubon Relish £10 / Aged Cull Yaw and Cumin Skewer £2.90 / Curry of Grey Mullet and Dancing Mushrooms £13 / Stir Fried Cornish Greens and Soy £6.20 / Northern Style Laap Sausage £5.50 / Brown Jasmine Rice £2.50 / Mezcal Strawberry and Chili £7.90 / Gin, Beetroot and Sesame £7.90 /Tamarind Soda £4.90 Kiln (London, United Kingdom) Kiln accepts all credit cards and is indoor dining only. Upstairs with views of the kitchen is no reservation and downstairs with tables is available with reservations for parties of 4+ only. read more

Kiln - Menu - Noodles Near Me - London, XGL

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Was jazzed to check this place out after seeing the great reviews. Overall, the food was good and the service was attentive. It was jammed packed on a Thursday evening. Would highly recommend getting a reservation if you want to check it out. The dishes are super flavourful. A bit pricey but given the area, should be expected. I'd be willing to come back again! read more

Ambience is nice, food is delicious (especially the noodle) but the portion size could have been better. Not sure about the hype but definitely worth of trying if you're a foodie and like trying south East Asian food. read more

Environment: Limited seating and busy til they close on a Thursday night! (Crazy!) We got lucky and they had us seated in a corner towards the back - facing a brick wall. Service: Fan-f***ing-tastic! We ask for recommendations, and most of the recommendations our radiator had was basically, the best. Really friendly staff, really quick food. Kind of maybe I was just lucky. Food: Oh. My. Goodness. Where do I even start?! The food is absolute perfection. We ordered the hogget skewers, glass noodles, Curry monkfish, and grilled chicken. Everything was worth our trip. The Hogget Skewers were cooked perfectly at medium rare. The grilled chicken was perfectly cooked, definitely not dry. But definitely regret spending the money on chicken, I would have rather had the hogget skewers. The glass noodles were very good, the presentation was epic. They weren't very overwhelming in the taste department. BUT, after all that food, everything was overshadowed by the monkfish. The best Curry monkfish I've ever had in my life. TLDR: Order the Curry monkfish, every. Single. Time. Best place everrrrrr. Try to book a table first. Target skewers are good, hogget skewers over grilled chicken. read more

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Burn baby burn...it was nice to be near fire in the cold of the winter. Oh and it doesn't hurt to have some good food along with it. Small menu, just try whatever and you'll be fine. read more

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Great: citrus salad, pork sausage, Jin toob, roasted chicken, clay pot glass noodle, stirred fried veggies Meh: lamb chop Don't try unless you really want to: turmeric & ginger lemonade, curry pollock read more

Great low key place! Not the Thai I'm used to having, but I still really liked it. The 'chicken and soy' dish was my personal favorite. We got to sit at the bar right where they cooked our food! W experience. Definitely suggest trying to sit at the bar next to the kitchen. It was cool to watch the cooks in action. They only serve for a limited time so be sure to get there quick! We were the last group of eaters and we ate around 3-3:30. Overall (as the kids say) 'hip' place. read more

Kiln - Noodles Near Me - London, XGL

We came to London for the Madonna concert so needed to eat on the early side. Came in at 5:30 and the wait was only 25 minutes. While we wait inside we ordered drinks: 5 pounds whiskey and tonic was so refreshing! It was a lot of fun to watch all the action (open kitchen). As the meal progressed, we heard that the wait time was about 2 hours. They don't take reservation. Food is definitely worth the wait. We ordered the glass noodles in the clay pot, which was full of flavors and was cooked perfect. The whole flounder was also an stand out. My highlight of the night was the beef neck curry which I fixed it in the glass noodles. Yum! Overall, amazingly vibrant vibe, great people watching and delish food! read more

OMG. This place is amazing!!! Really excellent flavors and everything we had was delicious. Especially recommend the glass noodles. Would recommend ordering several dishes and sharing rather than having individual plates, as the options really do blend together well. Service was very friendly and efficient, reasonable prices for the quality of food. So happy this dinner was such a success!! read more

Loud, hot, cramped. Lovely server who was top notch. Food incredibly spicy and no option for toning it down. Couldn't discern flavors due to the spice. No typical Thai food and no noodles on this night. Not at all relaxing or enjoyable. Corkage was allowed, 30£. Pass on a return visit. If you go--check the menu first. read more

I love the open kitchen here with all the clay pots! They minimize the smell and smoke of oil, and the counter is a wonderful place to eat. I just took a single bite of the Sour Turmeric Curry of Wild Bass, and I understood. The bitter, gingery turmeric is wild, and the bass is so tender and fresh with crispy skin. The Kanchanaburi Style Jungle Curry of John Dory has a small but substantial amount of spice in its tomato-based broth and the fish is flaky and sweet. The Wild Ginger & Beef Neck Curry from Burma is a heavy, a thick beefy stew. The Clay Pot Baked Glass Noodles is such comfort food. The noodles are al dente and surrounded by bacon-like Tamworth pork belly. The Stir Fried Cornish Greens & Soy are a nice obligatory vegetable. I hate kale, but they make it well. They made me not hate kale. That alone is praise-worthy, but there are so many delicious things at Kiln. Their menu rotates regularly, and they combine quality ingredients with impressive skill. Definitely worth stopping in if you're in the area! read more

Kiln - Noodles Near Me - London, XGL

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Food was fantastic Staff was super friendly and helpful. Highly recommend it. Make a reservation read more

Awesome place for Thai food! We had almost everything on the menu and all the dishes were incredibly tasty, well balanced and made with top ingredients. Cocktails are good too and prices are completely fair considering the location and quality. Service is friendly and really good as waiters are quick and efficient and they check whether everything is good during your meal. read more

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Hella ya this place is the bomb food music atmosphere .. menu is different daily ! Damn 10 out of 10

This is probably my favorite Thai restaurant...in the world (so far). I loved sitting at the bar - so satisfying watching them cook my food - everything was seriously SO good. If & when I visit London again, I'll definitely go back again for a meal - must go! Aged Lamb & Cumin Skewer Just one skewer, & yet so much flavor! The cumin was strong, but not overpowering (yas). Clay Pot Baked Glass Noodles We all need a carb in our meal! So simple & pleasing. They bake it in a claypot over fire & give you a sauce on the side to poor in (which was just as amazing). Southern Style Dry Pork Curry This dish was SO flavorful. I actually added it into my glass noodles as well & it tasted so well together. I think it may be my favorite! Whole Grilled Ike Jime Mackerel They grill the fish right over fire & it was soooo delicious! The lime was a nice touch - cleaned this plate so quickly. Wild Ginger and Beef Neck Curry from Burma Another super flavorful dish! Cooked so well & also tastes pretty good with the glass noodles! Northern Style Turnip, Beetroot, & Herb Salad At first I thought a salad wasn't necessary, but having this on the side to nom between meals was nice & refreshing since everything was so strongly seasoned. Drinks: Both awesomely refreshing & pairs well with such a strong-tasting meal. Mint Lemonade Thai Iced Tea This place doesn't take reservations btw! I went a little after lunch time & waited around 20 minutes, but I would definitely avoid peak hours since the restaurant isn't that big! read more

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A very solid Thai restaurant with wonderful "wok hei" food! * * * EXPERIENCE * * * Went on a Tuesday afternoon at around 1pm, it's not a big restaurant and it was almost full, fortunately it was only me and there was one last bar seat left. It's open kitchen style and it was fun looking at all the food preparation work. The menu was pretty simple but my server did recommend me a few dishes that he liked. * * * FOOD * * * Aged Lamb & Cumin Skewer: A- The cumin aroma was strong, the meat was very juicy and tender, I'm not expert on aged meat but it was pretty different from typical lamb skewers I tried before. There was some sweet spice to it too, and altogether it's very flavorful. Stir Fried Cornish Greens & Soy: A There was lots of garlic used and it was very very flavorful. It's not too oily nor salty, I guess it was a combination of some type of soy sauce plus the "wok hei" that made this otherwise simple dish so exciting and delightful. Clay Pot Baked Glass Noodles: A The "wok hei" used was so expressive here. The sauce was made of garlic, lime, fish sauce, green onion etc. There was one piece of pork belly and lots of minced crab, and the crab meat definitely added different textures to the noodle enhancing the complexity of the whole dish. The noodles were thin and chewy. Make sure you don't add all the sauce into the pot or else it would become too wet to enjoy. It was such a delicious (and filling) dish. Still couldn't believe there's such a high quality Thai place in London. Perfect for a quick Thai food fix next time I'm in town. read more

There's nothing not to like about this exceptionally unique restaurant. From Jude, the adorably attentive manager, to Charlie, one of the chefs handling the Clay Pot Baked Glass Noodles with Teamwork Belly and brown crab meat, this restaurant mixes Thailand boarders and a British sourced produce. Seriously fun ambiance with a great cast of employees who all seem to be friends having a great time behind the open kitchen and although swamped with orders, take time to engage with the patrons. Amazing And the charcoal burning stove ... it brings another unique feature to this dining experience. Seriously, you must try it. read more

We had 5 plates of various food. Except for the chicken marinated in soy sauce and spices it was some of the worst tasting food I have ever had at a restaurant. Some of the dishes were not edible. It seems Very strange that Kiln has such high reviews. read more

Very good southeast asian foods. We got a chance to sit in the kitchen bar to watch the staffs preparing foods, they were very friendly. read more

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