Well received during a very quiet lunch time. Great menu selection, well cooked and presented. Apparently well known as an aircrew hangout particularly welcome if branding a distinctive moustache!!! read more

The food is really good. The pub and restaurant are separate, so you will need to order and pay for your pint at the bar and your food from the wait staff. That said it was a fun time in this place. read more

I can't speak for the food here, but this was exactly the flavor of local pub I was looking for in London. Cozy atmosphere bursting at the seams with Royals ephemera and friendly staff. Pop in for a pint or 2 and enjoy! read more

The Heron - Pubs Near Me - London, XGL

This is a aircrew favorite for my airline. I make this a priority stop every time I am in London. The bar has a homely feel, about 12 beers on tap, and the bartenders are always up for a chat. That's just the bar. They have some of the best Thai food in the area. I judge my Thai restaurants on their use of Thai Basil, ginger, and how they add heat to dishes. The Herron does all at a high level. They do a great job of adding heat with different chilis and their oils rather than just plain ole red pepper flakes. I recommend the chicken larb, Thai chili & basil with fried pork, and Tom Yum soup if it's a cold day. All great tasting and high quality. Have a pint or two while your there too. read more

The Heron was such a cool find. There's really two distinct places in one building. The Heron is upstairs and is a cool relaxing pub with good beer and drink selections. Downstairs is a great Thai restaurant that is really a separate business. You can go downstairs and have sit down, table service Thai meal at the restaurant. You can also stay in the Heron and have drinks that you order at the bar. If you want to eat here, you let the bartender know and someone from the restaurant comes and takes your order. The restaurant people bring your food up to you when it's ready. Everything from the restaurant was wonderful! Everybody from both the pub and restaurant were very friendly. I'll definitely go back next time I'm in London and in the mood for Thai food. read more

Heron is wonderful, the staff is lovely. Four stars though because we got charged 30% service charge on our pad thai and appetiser. We asked about it but didn't figure it was worth the hassle. Felt like the guy just added it arbitrarily but who knows ‍ The bar charges normally though so come drink and be merry. read more

The Thai food is the bomb. Amazing downstairs. The pub upstairs Is so British, sometimes live music .

Outstanding Thai food some of the best I have ever had. Great prices and fantastic service. The restaurant is located in the basement of the Heron Pub. If you like great Thai food take the time to find this place. read more

Blimey - the most authentic Thai dinner in London turns out to be in a pub basement! You'd never know from on the street that The Heron is something so special, so take my word from it and try it out. This restaurant not only serves some of London's best Thai food but the whole experience is straight out of suburban Bangkok. The dishes are flavoured, spiced and look exactly like they would at a Bangkok night market. Even the fading 90s-nightclub style is just the same as thousands of cafes in Thailand. The cocktails list is typically Thai, with Coke and Chivas Regal listed well-up the top (Thailand's love of bad whisky has always amused me). You'll not be surprised to hear that at 8pm the whole joint starts doing Thai karaoke as well. If this isn't your thing then come a little earlier. The song book is positively encyclopedic though and worth a browse. Considering how hidden the Heron is, how rough the upstairs pub is and how cheesy the dining room looks - it's actually incredibly popular, especially with Thais. You'll need to book one to get your hands on a few of the 20 or so seats. We were there on a Friday night and many unsuspecting diners were turned away having not booked. Quick description of our dinner - we had two of the house specials, the rich and wonderful orange curry (a sour and spicy soup with prawns and citrus flavours) and the fried sea-bass done EXACTLY like in Thailand with irresistible crispy skin and a side-dish of spicy sauce. As well as these two we also took one of their som tums (papaya salads) of which there are many options. Som Tum is Thailand's real favourite dish and usually comes incredibly spicy. We went for Som Tum with grilled pork neck and it was just perfect, blowing away all other som tums I've had in London (and I've had quite a few). So the Heron, just a scruffy pub behind thousands of Lebanese restaurants? No. A new best for Thai food in London? Quite probably. read more

The Heron - Delicious - Pubs Near Me - London, XGL

When you're surrounded by Thai people, you know that the Thai food in the restaurant will be good. The Thai restaurant at the Heron is no exception to this rule. Hidden in the basement at the Heron pub, this place had no name, the menu makes no sense to those not in the know, and the seating capacity is smaller than my small London living room. But the food makes it worth every bit. I think this is one of London's best kept culinary secrets. The first thing that strikes you about the menu is the lack of western Thai favourites like green curry, red curry, etc. Instead you're greeted with things that'd be right at home in one of Andrew Zimmerman's shows: century eggs, chicken feet curry, pork neck, etc. But don't be afraid, every thing tastes amazing. Go for one of the raw papaya salads. We had the ones with salted crab and fried catfish. Also good is the spicy duck curry and the jasmine rice. The larb dishes go well with the tube too. We had the one with minced pork. And to finish it all off, we had the chef's special steamed squid. The ice creams are good too. This is the first place where I've had green tea ice cream that I've actually liked. And the other flavours worth trying are coconut and taro root. The banana fritters go well with the chilled deserts. Nice find and overall a very nice place to have a wonderful lunch. read more

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I was a little iffy about eating at a Thai restaurant in an English pub, but I have no regrets! The actual restaurant is downstairs in a cozy basement that looks to seat about 30. The menu is quite varied, with lots of options, however I didn't see much favorite dish: "drunken noodles." After describing it to the waitress, she asked the chef and he knew exactly what I was looking for and said he could make it! The noodle dish came out looking perfect and was just as delicious. The amount of spice was also perfect; just enough heat to make me a little sniffly, but not so much so that I don't taste anything else. After my noodles, I had some ice cream for dessert. The Thai iced tea ice cream was phenomenal and the durian ice cream, if you're a fan of durian, was also quite good. I was a little sad they didn't have my goto dessert, Mango sticky rice, but ice cream was quite good. Overall, I'd highly recommend giving this Thai-restaurant-in-a-pub a go! read more

The Heron - Drunken Noodles, ordered "off menu" - Pubs Near Me - London, XGL

Very authentic Thai food and great service! We love the ambience and relaxed feel of the pub.

Oh my god - how authentically delish is this place??!!!! I went here having read the reviews on yelp & I am so glad I did! This has to be the best Thai food this side of Thailand! There was not a green/red curry or Pad Thai to be seen. The menu - which is written first in Thai with English underneath - is full of Thai delights! Heaps of Papaya salads, dishes with Duck Tongue, pork neck, pig intestines, pigs trotters, century egg etc as well as seafood, fish, chicken etc. We asked for our food spicy - thinking of how they make it in most UK Thai places- well, the food was authentically spicy! Blew the head off us! But still so tasty! It's cheap too, each dish around £6 - £10. The staff are really nice, the place is downstairs in a pub - the pub is nothing special, I would never have thought the downstairs could have such a hidden gem of a place! You must check it out if you like Thai/SE Asian food! read more

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So we waltzed in following the mind-blowing review from a friend. Precariously optimistic, we sat and read through the very Thai menu. A women on a walk table - place packed - exclaimed to her friends this was the best Thai in London. Well that's a deliriously big call I thought. The feast itself took around twenty minutes, perfect dinner wait, the beer was fizzy and fresh and our meals were so deliciously spicy we could only eat a mouthful every minute. Ideal. It's mouth-watering to even type the experience, I'm so glad it could last so long. Do mention it to the staff if you're faint hearted with spice, I imagine the combinations would be fantastic either way. I'm vegetarian and didn't struggle exactly but the meals are most definitely catered to the carnivorous or at least mermaids. Upstairs there's a pub that attracts stale-looking people, but downstairs they have karaoke video clips to accompany the party in your mouth! Well, on a Saturday at least. Will be back. Thank you. read more

Sunday evening dinner during a work trip led me and a colllegue to The Heron. We were staying at Hilton London Metropole within easy walking distance. Don't expect great service. It is typical pub where we walked up to the bar to order beer. We needed to ask for menus and rarely saw the restaurant server. The food was exeptional. I had a massaman curry chicken after shrimp satay starter. Food gets 5 stars and service 3 stars. Total 4 Stars. read more

My wife and I went to "The Heron" for Thai food after reading all the positive reviews about how it was the "best Thai food" in London. However, it has changed management, cooks, and the menu. Apparently they just reopened. Most of the reviews were dated, so this should've been a hint to us beforehand. We were both hungry so we'd thought we would go ahead and give it a try... regretfully. The Food: We ordered Pad Ke Mau, Massaman curry with Duck, and the Som Tam (spicy papaya salad). The Som Tam was ok. Very spicy but edible. The Massaman curry was pretty bland. The potatoes in the curry had a really odd and unpleasant flavor to them so I didn't them. The rice was a bit dry. The duck meat in the curry was ok. The Pad Ke Mau was terrible. There were little chunks of salt in the dish making it overly salty. The noodles were not the usual noodles you would expect to get in most Thai dishes. Instead I think they were Pappardelle noodles that you'd expect to have in an Italian pasta dish. The Environment: The Thai restaurant is located under "The Heron" pub. The staircase leading below has a strange and unpleasant smell to it. The dining room decor is very minimal and the lighting is more like a "wanna-be-club" than a restaurant. There was no music and we were initially the only customers in there. A white couple came in while we were there and almost left once they heard it was under different management. However they ended up changing their mind... I bet they'd probably wished they left. Later two Asian people showed up. We overheard them complaining about the "terrible food" on our way out. In Summary: If you don't want good Thai food and will pretty much eat anything, this is your place. Otherwise steer clear of this place. On a positive note, I don't feel sick from eating their food... yet. read more

AVOID THIS PLACE LIKE THE PLAGUE The management has changed in the past few months and the quality has decreased significantly. The menu is now totally unauthentic, and the standard of the food is poor at best. The staff are chaotic and disorganised: the table behind me had to send two dishes back because the wrong ones were sent to the table. My friend's chicken curry cane without any chicken (??), and my stir fry dish had chicken that was tough and tasted like it was 4/5 days old... when we asked for chilli oil, (fairly standard in most Thai restaurants), a ramekin of sweet chilli sauce was sent to the table. All of the staff are now apparently Italian and have no idea about what Thai food should taste like.. a very strange and disappointing experience read more

Kind of a weird vibe in this place, and the smell walking down the stairs to the restaurant wasn't exactly enticing. Upon walking through the old-time pub door you're transferred somewhere else, somewhere arguably even shittier looking, but crucially, smells better. The food was a revelation. We ordered a massaman beef curry, a chicken green curry, papaya salad with peanuts, pad thai, pad see eiw, chicken wings, and maybe some other shit (total white person ordering, eh?). Everything was absolutely excellent. By far the best Thai I've had in London. Recently, tried Janetira in soho and thought that was great - this is even better. read more

second time here ( downstairs in the Thai Karaoke bar /Restaurant). This is definitely the real deal - the smell of fish sauce when you enter is not for the faint hearted, & you have to love the description on the menu - necks, legs, arms, lips, are all listed in abundance. The food is excellent, the only concern is that there doesn't seem to be mainly western staples here ( eg Green Chicken Curry) , you'll have to go a bit more local! Clientele seems to be mainly mixed Thai and international types. And music appears to be authentic Thai Karaoke ( although I have to admit I am not an expert) I'd definitely recommend this restaurant for something a bit different and authentic! read more

After a long day at windsor castle my friend and I came here due to the yelp reviews and it was exactly what we were looking for. Upstairs is the pub and downstairs is delicious Thai. The downstairs was undergoing some renovations so we just ordered downstairs and ate upstairs by the fire. Everyone was so friendly and the place had a cozy atmosphere. Not to mention this authentic and delicious meal was only 5.95 pounds!!! We'll be back for the pub and the Thai and the kind folks. read more

The Heron - Chicken pad Thai at the pub! - Pubs Near Me - London, XGL

Very good service and yummy, unpretentious Thai food. I came here with my family after a long day of and about in town and ordered several dishes including the pad see ew, pad Thai, Tim Yum soup, and a veggie dish. The portions were just right, and the food itself was yummy and hit the spot. Lastly, the service was very good. read more

Wonderful thai specialties in a karaoke ambiance. You will find dishes that are usually rare in restaurants outside of Thailand. read more

Time Out says the most authentic but highly highly disagree. The soups were good, the fish dish was horrible - fishy smelling and didn't taste good - do not order!, the noodles okay. Quite frankly the prices were very high, the quality poor, the portions smalll, and sloooooow service. Completely disappointing. read more

I give the meal we had at The Heron 3.5 stars, but would probably give it at least 4 and probably 4.5 if I were to come back with a better Thai food crew. Came in for dinner with some friends and we followed the Western model of dining - one dish per person, not sharing (well, three between my husband and myself, but generally with the group, one dish per person). If I were to return, I'd insist on eating Thai style and go with a group up for ordering a variety of dishes to share. I loved the variety and apparent authenticity of dishes on the menu, but in practice, it was a little hit or miss. I went for the papaya salad with fermented crabs, requested Thai spicy and delivered with a pretty good kick that definitely exceeded much of what you get in Britain, but not quite Thai spicy. Still, probably the best som tam I've had in Britain. Additionally, sampled my husband's red curry beef and ka pao beef. The curry hit the mark, but the ka pao had a strange flavor. I think they used too much oyster sauce. Also, it's made with ground beef, which is technically correct but I prefer it with bigger pieces of sliced beef. Normally, ka pao is one of my favorite Thai dishes (I sometimes make it myself), but we didn't finish the plate of it. I'll probably be back at some point. They had a lot of great-looking veggie dishes, soups, salads etc on the menu and specials board that sounded appealing. Also, the price is pretty good for London - average £10-£15 per dish, so you could have quite the diverse feast for a group for under £20 a person with a beer each. read more

2 posts within the space of a week?! Is this girl feeling alright...? Anyway... Tucked away in an unlikely pub in the backstreets of Paddington lies a true culinary gem. Without a doubt the most authentic Thai I've tasted in the UK and you KNOW it's a good sign when the majority of the clientele are Thai. Pork intestines, duck tongues and pork neck, doesn't get more authentic than that. You'll find the most incredible bold flavours - the type that throws a brick in your face then asks for it back. Yeah that bold. Where? The Heron, Norfolk Creasant (just off Edgware Road), London What? Gaang som paeh sah plah - Sour and spicy orange curry with Sea Bass (MUST TRY) Yum woon sen tah lay - Sour and spicy glass vermicelli salad with poached seafood Yum pla duk fuu - Crispy Catfish salad with sweet sour spicy dressing Sticky rice All the food came to about £20 each which i thought was an absolute bargain - you'd easily pay double that in a standard Thai restaurant with no where near this sort of quality food Yays - This has got to be one of my favourites of all the places i've blogged about. I find this place a refreshing change from the pad thais and green curries we so often associate with Thai cuisine. Let's be honest noone in Thailand really eats that stuff. Similarly on my many a visits to China i'm yet to come across anyone digging into a sweet and sour chicken in batter balls. Don't get me wrong i still love the stuff. All the dishes were outstanding but my favourite has to be the sea bass. The fish is cooked whole (watch out for the bones!) and served in a thin tangy orange curry. The initial tart flavour is quickly followed by the saltiness of fish sauce with a final fiery hit from the chillis. The perfect harmony of bold and exciting flavours. Towards the end me and Gaz were scraping the bones for fish and drinking the sauce... not our proudest moment. The catfish salad came a veryyyy close second - apparently this is an iconically authentic dish so a must try for me. The catfish had been flaked and fried to form an almost biscuity base for the salad, incredibly moreish. This was topped with crunchy roasted peanuts, red onions and aromatic celery. Then there was the dressing.... when they say sweet sour spicy they weren't joking about the spice. It's the kind of spice that knocks your socks off and leaves you gasping for air for the next 10 minutes, yeah that was a bit too spicy. A huge shame because the acidity from the limes in this would have gone perfectly with the catfish flakes if i could feel my mouth. The glass vermicelli was still really delicious but 'bland' in comparison to the above. A salad of spongy noodles with prawns, mussels and crabsticks. All the dishes scream pure Thai flavours - a perfect balance of sour, salty and spicy. I mean H-O-T, the kind that makes your nose run and eyes stream. So be warned if you're not a fan of spice ask for it mild! Did i mention there was karaoke? Nays - The sticky rice or shall i say concrete rice. That ball could have smashed a window. Oh and the wine , it's on tap. You can imagine how terrible this is. 9/10 Already planning my next trip back, a true gem. More reviews of cheap eats and street food in London by Chikay Lo at http://areugonnaeatthat.blogspot.co.uk read more

It pains me to three star The Heron it really, really does. The Heron for me is like that really, really attractive person you fancy for ages and ages, but never speak to. Everyone else fancies them too, they seem impossibly beautiful and interesting. Then you speak to them. They ask you out. And you realise, they just aren't that great after all. I love regional Thai food and I love menus which bring to London the weird and the wonderful things that Thailand has to offer. But I don't think I love The Heron. I've wanted to go for so long and after hearing everyone that loves Thai food literally rave about this place I thought loving it would just be a given. I don't know if I went on a bad night, or if it was me that ordered badly (see Heron, I WANT to love you so much, I'm even willing to accept it may have been my fault this didn't work out!) but I was disappointed. Firstly, it's expensive. Secondly I don't think they've translated the whole menu. I've seen dishes on blogs that were nowhere to be found on ours. And thirdly, I wasn't blown away by the food. The Som Tum flavours weren't balanced, and it wasn't very spicy even though we asked and had too much lime and not enough fish sauce. The Som Tum at 101 Thai Kitchen is far better in my opinion. The Isarn sausage was also very disappointing, what should be a moist, almost greasy sausage was dry and not garlicky enough. The Yum Pla Duk Fuu, crispy catfish salad was a treat to find on a menu in the UK, but too soggy and greasy to be enjoyable and completely missing all the crunch that makes it so good. The only thing I would definitely order again (apart from the sticky rice, which was very good) were the Deep Fried Duck's Tongues, crispy and savoury and perfect with a beer. In fact they're probably worth the three stars alone. I'm definitely going to go back and give The Heron another chance. I don't believe I'm the only Thai food lover in London that didn't enjoy it. read more

A friend of mine had showed me a blog post that had profusely praised the Heron for serving some of the best Thai food in London. Its not very common to encounter pubs that are proficient in Thai cuisine, and so a visit was certainly in order. It's located just off Edgware Road, about a 15 minute walk from Marble Arch. I went on a Sunday evening ... the alley was desolate. The pub itself wasn't crowded. I saw only about 2 or 3 groups of diners (or drinkers). It has a courtyard accessible from the inside. But the tables there did not appear very clean. So in spite of the heat, I decided to stay indoors. The service was very good. All the staff whom I talked to were very polite and helpful. I started with a spicy chicken soup which I was recommended. It was a bit too watery (but extremely spicy nonetheless ) for my taste. I ended up eating all the chicken and the mushroom and left most of the broth. For the main course I went for stir fried beef with black bean sauce. I was contemplating ordering a portion of fried rice when I was helpfully reminded that a portion of plain rice will be served along with my dish. I really enjoyed the beef. It had exactly the right amount of spice and was cooked to the appropriate extent. The serving size was reasonable for one person. I wanted to take some fried rice home for the next day. I was warned that it would take time (45 minutes) to prepare as they were understaffed. I waited, watching a Barcelona game on tv. The fried rice turned out to be somewhat of a disappointment. It wasn't great. Based on my one experience at the Heron I thought that it's food was good and reasonably priced, but not good enough to persuade me to make the trek from East London. It would have been a perfect local for me though, had I been living around there. read more

Unfortunately the service is not the best. After we ordered or meals and drinks, we instantly got asked to pay. A meal was missing after we ordered it, and we where only asked once in two hours if we wish something. The meal however was good in terms of quality vs price read more

look, I have nothing against The Heron. I've tried this place twice the past few months. this is not about their food though. first, let me state it. the food is great. I think they are one of the best thai food in London. wait, why do I give them 1 star then. because of the service. what makes a good/great restaurant are the food and services. location makes it a bonus. but if you have a great food but really bad service, it will turn people off. seriously if these people who worked there regardless they are family or not, come on, this is business. its too bad that you'll be losing people on how they treat your customers. example. - people are coming in and waiting at the door, and your waitress are changing TV channel for what she wants to watch (music video), the other were busy chatting on the phone and the lady at the cashier, I don't know what she was doing. - the whole time I was there, twice, she never come to the table for water refill (plenty of customer were asking for it) and guess what they were doing. texting and changing TV channel. ( I went there last few months lunch time and last night for dinner) - Both meals were fantastic. - one issue with my order, Steam rice. I got the bottom end last night rice. so it was dark, dry and they clump to the size of tennis ball (not edible). I call for it, and guess what. THEY Just brushed it off. Come on.. right minded people would offer a new bowl of Rice. the last bit that hit the nerved, 10% added for service on the bill and then they hand me over for another Tip on the card machine. Really!!. this is my review of how your restaurant treat your customer. sorry mate.. you guys can do better than this. read more

This place blew my mind. Went to the basement, burned my mouth beyond reason and loved it. I've bee twice and I will go every time I find myself in London as long as it's still there, best Thai food I've ever had. read more

Really good food, with items you wouldn't usually find on a Thai menu outside of Thailand. Only deduct one start because it can be a bit pricey (over 20 pounds for the "whole fish" dishes, which weren't that large). That being said, this is a great restaurant that I would definitely visit again. read more

I ordered fried rice with pork after starting with spring rolls. The spring rolls was way better than the main dish. Too much soy sauce in the food and the pork was dry, very dry. I am not impressed at all. Feels like I just wasted my money. Definitely not returning. read more

This is a review of the space downstairs, not the bar upstairs. They warn you about the spicy; heed the warning. I forget what I got--something to do with prawn and vermicelli, it was very good--but I was glad for the iced tea I'd ordered to go along with it. Also needed some ice cream after to cool off (they had a good in-house coconut ice cream). I'm Indian, I grew up with spice, spice and I are no strangers, but that meal was the first time I ever broke a sweat eating something. It was delicious and terrifying. When I went, it was still very early so I was the only one there--so I can't really speak about the quality of service because I wasn't competing with anyone for server attention. read more

Interesting place with traditional English pub upstairs and Thai restaurant / karaoke downstairs. The upstairs is a bit dated (but seems to have a fairly friendly atmosphere with lots of middle-aged English working men). Downstairs is a bit dark but the food is very tasty (although maybe more for Thai people as it is mostly very spicy). The karaoke machine seems to be always running so you can sing while others eat, or listen to others sing while you eat! read more

Had dinner here last night, Sunday 6:30pm. Restaurant full by 7:30pm by mostly thai's living in london. I thought food was decent, waited a long while for food to come but chef cooks on site and does one table at a time so depending on how busy it is, it can be a wait for food to come. papaya salad with peanuts just as good as thailand, pork with broccoli also very good, chicken wings very good. the only dish we were disappointed with was the deep fried morning glory thinking it was stir fried and duck tongues were 3/5 at best, was expecting something great given the reviews. will definitely be back given it is really close to home. read more

The good: Excellent food, super authentic. The service was pretty quick, though we did go at opening time on a Sunday afternoon. The bad: small space, not very baby/child friendly (no high chairs). Too much choice, which was confusing. Generally, I prefer small, specialised menus. Got to get: papaya salad with salty crabs, coconut ice cream, banana fritters Meh: catfish salad. I think this could have been an expectation issue, it just wasn't what we thought it would be. But but. It was ordered by everyone who was at the restaurant when we were there. So...maybe we just didn't get it. read more

Very authentic!! Great flavours but I wish the ambience was slightly better so I could bring friends around

Do not be put off from the pub exterior! The Heron Thai is down the stairs on the right and such a hidden gem close to Edgware Road! I had read such great things about the food here, after searching high and low to find the 'best Thai' in London. Now I haven't been to all that many in The Big Smoke but my taste buds have tested a fair few meals in their time. WOW. What incredible food the wonderful chefs cook here! So authentic and the flavours they manage to pack in, to even the simpler dishes was incredible. Adding to that, it did not feel greasy at all. We got 6 dishes and two drinks between the 2 of us and it came to £41. Not bad when your splitting the bill and it was such incredible food. There are some pretty crazy things on the menu so if you are up for trying lots of new things I recommend a small group! I had heard service as not being great, but the woman was lovely and we hardly had to wait for our food! Great place, great thai, great times! read more

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the most authentic thai food i've ever had outside of thailand. thai-only (no english) menu, SUPER legit thailand-spicy everything! told the waiter to bring his favs and got: fried duck tongue, stinky delicious papaya salad w/fermented fish & crab. really delish larb, & some crazy orange soup w/shrimp. honestly felt like i was back in thailand. LEGIT! read more

http://hungryinlondon.com/2011/08/heron-edgware-road/ (for full review and pictures) I love Thai food:the chillies,the freshness,the wonderful herbs and spices amalgamating in simple but at the same time exceptionally flavoursome dishes. I have been to Thailand on three occasions and have eaten my way back and forth through the Thai menu,in fact I decided then that I could easily live on nothing but Thai food for the rest of my life. Trying to recreate a similar gastronomical experience in London has proved much more difficult than expected. I have tried a plethora of different Thai restaurants in the capital in search for THE one,for my favourite Thai,but even though I found a few cheap Thai places that I quite like,such as Suchard in Bermondsey or Yelo in Hoxton, their food seems rather tuned down and Westernised. I am not even mentioning places like Rosa and Busaba Ethai,which sadly have rather little in common with the cuisine I experienced in Thailand. Another irritating fact is that most Thai places in London have the same generic menu offering only few dishes that are not variations of Thai classics (such as papaya salad,prawn toast,pad Thai,green and red curry and gaprow). So I was all the more excited when I read about The Skinny Bib's discovery,namely The Heron in Edgeware Road. I should probably mention that the Skinny Bib is not only food blogger with excellent and reliable taste buds,but also Thai,so an opinion that needs to be trusted. So I joined The Skinny Bib,the other bib and Tamarind and Thyme for a Thai feast. (all the pictures are courtesy of Su-Lin from Tamarind and Thyme,even though it says HungryinLondon on them,I don't know how to get rid off this,but they are hers). The Heron is a pub in the middle of a council estate and no one would ever imagine that it hosts a Thai eaterie in the basement. In front of the door some smoking beer drinking locals look like straight out of the Jeremy Kyle show. Through the pub entrance right and down the stairs you just need to follow the Thai tunes and end up in a little Bangkok. Thai waiters and chefs,Thai patrons and to add a finishing touch a Thai karaoke screen on the wall (for the courageous among you). What you have to know about the Heron is,that there is a 'tourist menu'(the same generic menu described above) and a menu for Thais. This menu is the interesting one and lovely Skinny Bib has translated for us! So print out his translation and head for some of the most authentic,delicious and mind-blowingly spicy (in a good way) Thai food. And some of the dishes were seriously weird (in a good way),please look at the catfish salad and tell me if this looks like fish to you: I won't bore you with descriptions,just look at the pictures and imagine a lot of spice,coriander,lemon grass,ginger,fish sauce,lime leaves and ingredients you have no idea what they could possibly be. All was good. If I had to choose my favourites it would be the salads (the Thai sausage one was absolutely superb,the papaya salad fresh and zingy and the squid one full of stunning textures and flavours) and the beautiful Tom Yum Soup. Price-wise,most mains range around 8 or 9 pounds,so if you don't overorder or drink too much Singha beer,you should not be paying more than 20 quid a head. I can't wait to go back! In my books,this is the best Thai in London. read more