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    Som Saa

    4.2 (56 reviews)
    ModerateThai
    Closed 12:00 pm - 2:30 PM, 6:00 PM - 10:30 PM

    Som Saa Photos

    SOM SAA ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Loud
    Hipster
    Trendy
    Dogs allowed

    Recommended Reviews - Som Saa

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    Braised pork belly
    Connie C.

    Overall som saa is 4.5 out of 5 stars, but I rounded up because their whole fried fish is spectacular and is the star of the show. Prices are a little steep (especially since they charge rice per person) so not your everyday dinner spot, but great for date night or that special night out.

    Dining room
    sarah b.

    Delicious. Amazing flavors. One of my fave Thai meals of all time. We got the set (tem toh) menu: 35 pounds for a bunch of food (hard to say exactly how many courses, but we were stuffed at the end). Started with crab and mango in a lemongrass-flavored sauce, with rice cakes for dipping. Then chicken skewers, accompanied by duck in a hot sauce and sticky rice. Then garlic-flavored pak Choi and and prawn curry with a fish sauce. Then a coconut cream sauce with (maybe?) ground pork. It was hard to keep track because of all the deliciousness....aaaand because we had multiple Muay Thai kick cocktails. Yum!

    Desert
    Pease L.

    The FOOD, The SERVICE, The EXPERIENCE! Was awesome highly recommend you get and or make your way here

    kluey yaang 'ice cream' (£5)
    Miko B.

    Authentic yet hipster, Som Saa is famous for its whole deep fried sea bass and its banana-flavored ice cream dessert. Both of them are definitely worth trying, assuming you're okay with the saltiness and spiciness that come with Thai food. The menu is a little bit pricey for what you get though. // nahm dtok pla thort (£17.50) - 5 stars // som tam thai (£9.50) - 3 stars // kluey yaang 'ice cream' (£5) - 4 stars

    Yi-Bing S.

    Amazing whole fried sea bass. So good I ordered a second one and ate most of it! Dessert was excellent and unique too!

    Rachel M.

    The winners for me at this restaurant were the hipster décor and the drinks. Décor wise, the restaurant gave off shabby chic vibes with its dim lighting, wooden seats, assortment of succulents and mini candles on the tables -- the interior decorator had an excellent eye for intricate detailing. Drinks wise, there was an expansive selection of unique wines, cocktails, beers, and nonalcoholic refreshments. I opted for the nonalcoholic freestone mango which I highly recommend. It was a mixture of mango juice, coconut juice, and chili garnished with crushed rose petals. The spiciness was felt as a fiery aftertaste only after the sweet mango liquid was swallowed, providing a nice cohesive contrast. The food dishes were tasty too, especially the curry options. And the sticky rice came in a little plastic bag stored in a mini woven basket, which I found to be a creative way of serving the dish. However, the portion sizes were pretty small and overpriced for what they were, hence why I think this place deserves only 4 stars instead of 5.

    som tam isaan - proper spicy
    Vi W.

    Som Saa, Shoreditch - For me, Som Saa is not just another Thai restaurant. I knew Andy Oliver in his days in Nahm at The Halkin Hotel, a fine dining Thai restaurant. When that was closed, I followed Andy's cooking from pop up events at Climpson's Arch and The Begging Bowl to now, an established brick and mortar restaurant. When it came to food, we had one aim: to have everything they have on the menu. Unanimously, we also agreed to avoid the not so sharing-friendly dishes such as the soups and only picked a couple of salads. Like I said, it was not just another Thai restaurant where there is a generic curry with the choice of your protein. Som Saa offered a handful salads that you might as well just have all of, curries that are just so different from each other, deep fried fish that looks like it was frozen in it's swimming action, simple wok dishes that you know need the force of fierce some fire and desserts appropriately Asian. Dishes were served as when ready. My favourites were: grilled pork neck with a 'jaew' chilli dipping sauce £8.50 - the meat was moist and tender soaking in a marinade of a well balanced fish, spicy, herby sauce. It was definitely a brilliant dish to start. Not only it brought back the flavours of Thailand but also the ambiance of street food eating. whole deep fried seabass with roasted rice and isaan herbs £16.00 - nothing can be better than serving the whole fish to me. It is proper full on stuff. Deep fried like that, I ate all the way from it's tail to the head. The sauce like the grilled pork is very light and herby and well balanced. 'panang' curry of braised salted beef cheeks and thai basil £15.00 - the tender meat could convert any non meat eater in this instance and the sauce had a subtle spicy peanutty presence. Other dishes: stir-fried clams with turmeric, chillies and holy basil £11.00 - I love this dish except that I did had a gritty shellfish and biting into it was not pleasant because for one moment I thought I had cracked a filling. Otherwise, the flavours were great. thai style grilled chicken leg with tamarind dipping sauce £7.50 - a dish I longed for so long since their pop up days. A good grilled chicken but I did not get the Thai style aspect if not for the tamarind dipping sauce. stir-fried chicken and long aubergines with yellow beans and thai basil £9.00 som tam isaan £9.50 - proper spicy grilled chicken, banana flower, and chilli jam salad £10.00 - the look of the dried chillies can put one off from the dish thinking that it was going to be outrageously spicy but it was surprisingly mild, had a bite and had the look of a tasty fried salad. burmese style pork belly and shoulder curry with pickled garlic and fresh ginger £12.50 - the meat was so tender and delicious but was such a small cut and I thought that is was slightly on the sweet side jungle curry with thai aubergines, grilled fish and holy basil £14.00 - the curry is quite watery and this is a personal preference but I didn't like the bitter, slightly tough thai aubergines. Could be a wow dishes: palm sugar ice-cream grilled banana £6.00 - the palm sugar ice-cream has quite a strong caramel and condensed milk taste. The grilled banana was way too young to be cooked so when it was cooked, still had that raw and green texture. Had it been a riper banana, it would be sweeter and more melting in the mouth. seasonal English /Asian fruit plate £4.50 - a plate of fruits after dinner is just how it was in Asia - which is also seen as a luxury. In terms of the variety of Asian fruits it was brilliant with dragonfruit, jackfruit, longan, pomelo, rambutan, guava, mango and pineapple but the fruit themselves were not at their best because they were just not ripe enough so were not at their prime and the texture was not quite just right. What Som Saa did well was they have proper cooking skills and a very good palate for flavours. Som Saa embraced the whole Thai essence from quite carefully thought out teas, beers and cocktails to fancy tableware to the street food style plasticware. It is still early days for the new Som Saa restaurant but they are well beyond their their pop up and residential days.

    CJ K.

    Based on word-of-mouth, booked a table a while back and finally made it here. We tried to order the whole menu. But failed. Dishes we would definitely order again: Grilled chicken leg Whole sea bass (every single time) Aubergine and egg salad Beware the spice level of the fermented fish papaya salad and the jungle curry. Also, our table ordered 6 of the iced teas with condensed milk - there were less than six of us. The mango chilli drink was also really well liked. Desserts were a hit as well. We all thought that the banana to ice cream ratio should be rebalanced in favor of the yummy bananas. The jack fruit in the duck egg custard dessert had a huge fan at our table.

    #colourblast
    Daniel F.

    I was excited as I had been to and loved Som Saa, the thai pop up when it was at Climpson Arch. A wonderful dinner was had then about a year ago so I had eagerly waited for this opening and we were so lucky to get a table booking. Kicked off with a classic Green papaya salad (som tam isaan) which I can never really find fault with.. Another salad was the grilled chicken and banana flower (yum hua plee): This was good but not as memorable as the first for me. Pork Neck (mu yaang): Could have done another plate of this. Nice teaser into meal. Clams (pad ped hoi lai): Good, but then I always like clams. Whole deep fried Seabass (nahm dtok pla thort): Salty sweet, what Thai food is all about. A showstopper visually too. What made me stand up and take notice of Som Saa first time I went to be honest. Pork Belly (gaeng hung lay): A burmese style of pork curry that really displayed the garlic and ginger base of the dish. Reminded me of some Indian dishes I grew up with actually. Less Thai in that there is less citru//acidic vibrancy. Not a bad thing just an observation. Jungle curry (gaeng baa moo yaang): This was wanted to be the hottest. It wasn't actually. Not compared to the others, which the hype gave me a sense of disappointment. Chicken Leg with tamarind dip (gai yaang): Juicy, juicy juicy. Wish we didn't have to share. The sauce was wonderful too. Chicken & Aubergine wok (pad makeua yao): It was Ok. I think the aubergine's were still too bitter for my liking. But I likes this combination. Had a Camden beer which they have on taps which is good. Overall it was very good, though a few inconsistencies and a topsy turby service, but that was to be expected as it was opening night. A 3 and a half star somewhat based on what I know they can do. Think some dishes are quite samey, in that it's all of similar flavouring. Still would like to come back and see if they raise the bar again as it is still evolving nicely.

    Kaffir line cashews and two perfectly balanced cocktails. Bliss!

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    3 years ago

    Eclectic restaurant with interesting flavors . I enjoyed it . Try the fried Sea Bass

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    4 years ago

    Wonderful meal. Beautiful flavors, service, and ambiance/decor. We will be back and certainly pass on the good word.

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    4 years ago

    Excellent food, service and atmosphere. Food about £30 pp inc VAT and service. Highly recommend.

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    Nha-Mor - Thai decor

    Nha-Mor

    4.4(9 reviews)
    0.2 miAldgate

    I'm so glad I found this place! I got one of their spicy beef boat noodle soups and it was exactly…read morewhat I wanted. I was a bit skeptical of their paper container and ordering system, but once I had a sip on that soup... I was in noodle heaven! I've never been to Thailand to compare if this was an authentic Thai food, but I saw some Thai girls eating there and also heard the employees speaking Thai, so I'm pretty sure they are as authentic as I could get in London. I had too many fake Asian-fusion food in London so I was glad to know. I went back there again a few days later but they were closed for Easter holiday. I was so bummed. I'm definitely going back there again when I'm in London again!! Please stay there forever.

    So just to break it to you all, this place is basically a Yelp slamdunk despite no previous…read morereviews. Hole in the wall Authentic as hell Cheap and friendly Specialist in a few key dishes Delicious and spicy too Just a few chairs and a table At lunch they do take out lunches of authentic Thai curries on rice and sell Thai snacks and sodas off the shelf. Think amazing green, red and massaman curries for a few pounds on your lunch break from the city. After 3pm the order of the day is BOAT NOODLES. Previously impossible to get this done right in London and now available cheap and easily here and just so perfect too. Their normal boat noddles are simply amazing but for a truly authentic version (if you know what I mean) you'll have to ask hard. Send me a message if you're confused and I'll explain off the record. It's not really necessary as its already better than any Thai noodle soup elsewhere in town without the extra unadvertised ingredients. In fact it's the one thing that can surpass pho and it surpasses the best kingsland road pho easily. You've been told!

    Photos
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    Nha-Mor - Boat noodle soup. Off-menu ultra authentic version. Can you spot the difference?

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    Boat noodle soup. Off-menu ultra authentic version. Can you spot the difference?

    Som Saa - thai - Updated May 2026

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