The main AngloThai restaurant
What can you tell us about AngloThai?
The husband and wife duo behind AngloThai are John and Desiree Chantarasak. They've been running it in supperclub and pop-up form (and even as a few meal kits) for a number of years with their most prominent appearance being a summer-long residency at Outcrop last summer. Simply put, the food here is about combining Thai cooking techniques and recipes with British produce or, as they say "Rooted in Thailand, uniquely British". John is in charge of the food, while Desiree manages the wine and front of house.
This restaurant was first announced four years ago so it's been a long road to this point, but judging from our visit the wait has been well worth it.
Where is it?
They've opened in Marylebone on Seymour Place, the same road where you'll also find Lurra and Donostia as well as The Italian Greyhound. It's a slightly hidden-away street about a five-minute walk from Marble Arch, a little oasis in Marylebone.
This is the restaurant you're looking for
Where should we go for a drink first?
Our own choice on the night we visited was The Carpenter Arms, a pub just a few doors down from AngloThai, and we can definitely recommend that. The Portman, just up the road, looks decent too. If you're after something non-pubby, The bar at The Zetter (just a few minutes away on Seymour Street) is a good bet for cocktails.
At AngloThai itself - where should we sit?
It's not a huge room, so anywhere in the restaurant is decent. We should specifically point out that there are a few stools by the window on one side, so if you're just popping in to try a few dishes or are eating as a solo diner, they'd be perfect.
At this point, it's also worth mentioning the beautiful-looking private dining room downstairs. That's not going to be open until the new year, but it's certainly one to be aware of. And, it may be a small thing, but we loved the colour-coordinated design of the loos, with each one decked out in a different colour. They're quite something.
The downstairs PDR looks fantastic.
So, what can we expect from the food?
While it's probably taken them a lot longer to open this restaurant than they'd have liked, there has been one clear benefit to this. Every time we've tried AngloThai's food, it's been better each time. The cooking has been clearly growing in confidence and this restaurant once again showcases a step-change above their work at Outcrop last year. Sometimes things happen at the right time, and this feels like the right time for them.
You can't really go wrong with the menu choice-wise, and we feel that we just scratched the surface of it. It's all loosely divided into snacks, small plates and larger plates and we'd suggest ordering 6-8 dishes (excluding desserts) between two across all those sections. With that in mind, here's what we had:
Brixham crab, Exmoor caviar & coconut ash cracker (£35) - a difficult dish to photograph but a must-have if you can stretch to it. The crackers were a feature of their Outcrop residency where they popped up in a dessert, but they're a much better match for the caviar and crab here.
Cuttlefish bun, heritage seeds & black garlic (£11) - lovely little buns, the ideal snack to get you going if you need time to decide on the menu.
Carlingford oyster, sea buckthorn & fermented chilli (£6 each) - another dish that returns from the residency, with the dressing giving them a real hit.
Comice pear, candied beetroot & suffolk rapeseed (£6) - on the wee side, for sure, but the best use of pear we've seen in a while, with a real sweetness to the beetroot.
Grilled wildfarmed bread, roasted yeast butter & red kale (£11) - the flatbreads are a must-order too, and there's also a shrimp butter and Cornish shellfish version.
Wok-fired long aubergine, sweet basil & soy cured yolk (£20) - one of our personal favourites of the night, a pitch-perfect vegetable dish.
Ryall Farm Hebridean hogget, massaman curry & quince (£36) - something that feels like it's been cooking for a while, with the hoggett close to falling apart (in a great way).
We'd strongly recommend the excellent winter salad with black bee honey and salted duck egg (£12) and we also had our eye on the wholegrain farro with cured beef (£7) as a side but completely forgot to order that one. We spied the chop with pork fat and smoked chill relish on the table next door and, looking similar to a dish we had at Outcrop, that looks like a good recommendation too.
And for dessert?
At the time of visiting, there were just two desserts and both were excellent so, if you feel you can at this stage, get both.
Cacao ganache, sugarcane rum & salted coconut (£12)
Crown prince pumpkin, honey cake & pumpkin seed ice cream (£12) - while both desserts are great, this just inches out in front.
What about drink?
The drink is just as important a focus as the food here at AngloThai. As mentioned, Desiree Chantarasak is in charge of the wine list. She's always worked with independent smaller producers and those with innovative winemaking methods and you'll also see a focus on winemakers from central Europe, with a strong Austrian showing.
We ended up going with their two own wines, which they've created in collaboration with Austrian winemaker Nibiru. They're also named after the couple's children, so there's the Nibiru x AngloThai ‘Aubretia’ as a white (£9 a glass, £68 a bottle), and for the red, it's the Nibiru x AngloThai ‘Rufus’ (£68 a bottle). Both of those are easy recommendations, while the entry-level prices here are £39 a bottle.
Ultimately, we'd say you should definitely ask for a recommendation, as it's well worth being guided through the list here. We'd also recommend the short cocktail list, which has a strong non-alcoholic showing too.
On the left is the non-alcoholic Sunflower Seed Sour (Herball spirit, Botivo aperitif, sunflower seeds, egg white, £10) and on the right the Sea buckthorn Margarita (The Lost Explorer espadin, chinotto, sea buckthorn, verjus, £14)
Overall thoughts
This had been one of our most highly anticipated openings of the year, and we're so pleased that AngloThai have really knocked it out of the park. They have a beautiful-looking restaurant in a lovely part of Marylebone and have truly delivered on the promise that their pop-ups and residencies suggested. The food is excellent, the wine is fantastic and we can see this being a big and well-deserved hit for them.
More about AngloThai
Where is it? 22-24 Seymour Place, London W1H 7NL
How to book: Book online
Find out more: Visit their website or follow them on Instagram @anglothai.
Hot Dinners ate as guests of AngloThai. Prices are correct at the time of writing.
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