A couple weeks ago, I had absolutely no inclination to cook whatsoever. I had no idea what to eat for dinner either and so called up Blai and arranged to meet him in Hammersmith after my evening yoga class. We agreed on Thai food that night and as I’d heard good things about 101 Thai Kitchen, located halfway between Hammersmith and Chiswick, that’s where we’d go. Initial impressions of the bright pink restaurant were good: the place was pretty full and there was a TV in the back showing some Thai drama (that’s a good thing, right?!) and the Thai family sitting next to us was just finishing up their tasty-looking family style meal.
The first dish to arrive at our table was a pad see ew with chicken. I love all manner of stir fried flat rice noodles but this soy sauced dish was just average – it would’ve been much better had the noodles been fresh rather than reconstituted from dried. The chicken was tender though and I loved the addition of all the greenery.
Our next two dishes though would confirm the fact that it’s best to order from the blackboard in the back or the special section in the menu, where I recognised many dishes from Isaan, a north eastern part of Thailand.
The waitress had pushily listed a few special items on the blackboard in the back (all listed in Thai so unless you can read it, you’ll have to listen carefully). I had been drawn to the Special salad and was told it was like a papaya salad but it was large and had…everything. Well, she wasn’t wrong! In this amazing salad, we found: green papaya, thin egg noodles, prawns, squid, a coarse and dark pork sausage, another smooth pork sausage with a texture like fish cake, fluffy fried pork rinds, crunchy glazed fried anchovies, little salted crabs, pea aubergines, carrot, long beans, beansprouts, slices of an orange skinned vegetable that tasted like an aubergine, cherry tomatoes, slices of lime, a mysterious pit from a mystery fruit. I know I’m forgetting something! The dressing was more punchy, tangy, fishy, spicy than the usual stuff that anoints the usual Thai green papaya salads and made this salad all the more mouthwatering; we were shovelling this into our mouths! Alongside this, we also received a plateful of raw vegetables and crispy pork rinds – I loved dipping the vegetables into the dressing left at the bottom of the plate. We really should have ordered some sticky rice to have with this.
Rounding off our savouries was an order of their Thai sausages. It’s not often mentionned that sausage is a popular Thai street food and I was in search of the kinds that I had tasted in Chiang Mai. This one was an Isaan style sour sausage, with the sour caused by a slight fermentation before the sausage is cooked. We got four sausages to the order, each skewered for easy eating, which were accompanied by roasted peanuts, raw chilies, coriander and slices of raw ginger and cucumber. The flavour was spot on, exactly what I remembered from my trip.
For dessert, we split the intriguing sounding Jewels of Siam, supposedly unavailable anywhere else in the UK (so said the menu). This turned out to be a very typical Thai dessert – shaved ice topped with syrup and condensed milk and topped with various fruits (young coconut meat, palm seeds, jackfruit bits), jellies (including nata de coco), and homemade chewy things (mock pomegranate seeds was one of them). It was quite refreshing after the spicy meal and it was definitely a surprise to see it here. However, is it really not available at any other Thai restaurant in the UK?
Unfortunately, though the food was great, service was abysmal; it was near impossible to get the attention of our waitress throughout the entire meal. We sat with our empty dishes for a good 15 minutes while trying to catch someone’s eye before I finally waved around rather madly to get someone’s attention. At the end of our meal, the waitresses were ignoring us all and it took a lot of work to get the bill. We got ours eventually but we’ve taken note from what look like regulars – go straight up to the counter at the front to pay (our total was about £25). Shame, it would’ve made our experience there much better; I guess I’ll just have to put up with it if I want to get my fix of excellent Thai food.
101 Thai Kitchen
352 King St
Hammersmith
London W6 0RX
Wed, 6 May, 2009 at 08:59
I’ve had this on my list for a while so it’s great to hear what you think. The sausages sound intriguing!
Have you tried The Old Pars Head in Brook Green? I’ve had some pretty good Thai food from there in the past, nothing as exciting as the dishes you mention but good nonetheless and exceptionally good value too.
Wed, 6 May, 2009 at 09:38
Sounds like great food! I adore Issan food! There is a restaurant in Tel-Aviv, simply called Thai House, which in addition to noodle, curries, soups, and stir fries, has a whole menu page dedicated to Issan food. Dishes like thin slivers of beef or shreeded chicken with sauces of lemon and lots of chili, sometimes mint and coriander…(and some of the beef dishes with egg on top to)… Oh, getting hungry!
Wed, 6 May, 2009 at 09:56
I am a regular at 101 Thai Kitchen even though I live in Hackney, and I can vouch for this place, its authentic although you need to order carefully. The salads are excellent, and i highly recommend the Laoitian Fish Salad, its excellent. The specials board, of course, often has the best options. The quiet nun (battered aubergine with a red curry sauce) are very tasty, the stir fry options are okay and the curries are pretty good. At the end of the day, salads are the winner here, which is a refreshing change from other ‘Thai’ restaurants in London. I highly recommend you go back and try other parts of the menu, its very hit and miss but when you find a good option you will realise its worth the effort (even a trip from the other side of London!)
Fri, 8 May, 2009 at 12:45
Kerri: I pass that pub a lot but have never stopped there. I used to go to the Churchill Arms on Kensington Church Street but I found the food was going a little downhill and so stopped going. I really liked Addie’s Thai Cafe on Earls Court Road but it’s been a while since I last went.
Aeyal: Oh, I’m drooling now! Yeah, this place had lots of interesting things on their menu – I have to go back and try lots more (but with proper sticky rice next time)!
Jeremy: Wow – Hackney to Hammersmith is nothing to sneeze at! Luckily for me, I don’t live too far from Hammersmith and I can actually go through there on my way home from work. I was very tempted by the quiet nun (and what was the hot version – screaming nun or something similar?) and will have to try that next time. Oh, there are so many things to try that I’m quite glad you’ve pointed out a few things to start with! Thanks!
Fri, 8 May, 2009 at 13:11
Ah you are so lucky! I would almost consider moving to that part of town for it, but i love Hackney too much… PS that specials option they had is excellent, its like a really rich curry, the game meats arent great but overall its an excellent dish and i highly recommend that if it is still on the specials board. stir fry dishes you can probably miss, but if you do go for one i always prefer these with some thai basil in it to give it the aniseedy flavour. the musaman isnt bad either, and the salads are hit and miss but definitely worth experimenting with a lot! one time on the specials we had a green mango option with tempura prawns and that was fantastic. dishes with cockle or anyhing similar to that should be avoided, they are rubbery and obviously defrosted and overcooked. good luck!
Sat, 9 May, 2009 at 00:37
These pictures are causing me to drool! It looks delicious. I was wondering what camera you use to capture these sumptuous dishes? would you have any suggestions for a newbie food photographer
Sat, 9 May, 2009 at 16:35
That meal sounds an absolute bargain at just £25… I have never seen a Thai restaurant in the UK offering salad. It makes a change from the delicious but often high fat laden curries traditional to Thai cooking.
Mon, 11 May, 2009 at 10:02
I love Thai food! I found your HP on the way to looking for a cooking school in Ciang Mai. That was nice place,wasn’t that? Pad see ew、Papaya salad、Dessert in your HP look like yummy! they remind me of such a nice atmosphere in Thailand.
Mon, 11 May, 2009 at 20:45
GG Merkel: For these photos, I used an oldish point and shoot – the Sony DSC W5 – I use it for about 50% of my photos. The other 50% are taken with a Nikon D40. If you want a point and shoot, I’d recommend any of the Sony W series – they’re pretty good in low light. If you’re looking for an SLR, you don’t need the highest end camera out there – it’s not just the camera but also the photographer. Practice, practice, practice! My old food photos make me laugh sometimes (all on my Flickr) but I realise I’ve come a long way. Good luck!
Robert: Esarn Kheaw near Shepherd’s Bush also do some salads I think. Definitely som tam. There’s another place in Acton that does good noodles and not bad som tams. But the price is definitely good!
Masae: Oh yes, I too love Thai food! Is HP home page? That’s what I understand – hope this is right! Thanks for dropping by!
Sun, 5 Jul, 2009 at 20:40
Hey S-L, came here tonight. It was very good indeed. Thanks.
Mon, 6 Jul, 2009 at 21:24
Les: Glad you liked it!
Wed, 3 Aug, 2011 at 04:41
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