Luke Farrell has had an impressive string of hits over the past few years, with both Speedboat Bar and Plaza Khao Gaeng becoming hugely popular Thai restaurants. Now the chef is getting ready to launch something new with Yai.
He's taking on a space in Marylebone that was once Il Baretto, and this latest restaurant will be very different from his previous openings as it's going be a fine dining restaurant (although there's an emphasis on a relaxed approach to that). It'll be particularly focused on the food of Phuket and it also sounds like that'll stretch to the design of the restaurant, as they say it will be "rooted in the idea of an ancestral Phuket home".
What's on the menu is still under wraps at the time of writing, as all they'll reveal right now is that they'll be making use of southern Thai ingredients like Songkhla shrimp paste, Betong soy sauce, Pattani sea salt, Phatthalung palm sugar, and Sangyod rice. As with the other restaurants which, like this opening, are a team-up with JKS (Gymkhana), they'll be making good use of the produce from Farrell's nursery in Dorset.
About the launch, Farrell himself says, "Our ambition is to transplant the cuisine of Phuket into London at a level not previously attempted, rather than define itself against London’s existing Thai landscape." That sounds a little like he's trying to see off comparisons with another Marylebone restaurant, AngloThai, but given the success of that and Farrell's other restaurants, we can see this new restaurant being a hit too.
More about Yai
Where is it? 43 Blandford St, London W1U 7HF
When does it open? Early 2027
Find out more: Visit their website or follow them on Instagram @yai.restaurant.
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