7 Maddox Street
London
W1S 2QB
020 7499 6007
Thai restaurants in this country are going to have to pull their socks up. Patara really have managed to make their rooms feel so like Thailand that I for one thought I was back in Bangkok when I was having dinner there. They seem to go for the less is more approach in the dressing of their plates and are not festooned with garlands of intricately carved vegetables and concentrate more of the quality and seasoning of their food. The menu is obviously Thai in origin but it does seem to have a westernised slant to it. I don't remember ever seeing a lamb shank on the menu in Thailand, but I was very glad it was on the menu here as it was truly wonderful. The service is slick and they helped in the decision of what to eat so we left it to them and ended up with สะเต๊ะไก่-กุ้ง-เนื้อ which to you non Thai speakers is a trio of satay. ขนมเบื้อง which are poached king scallops in spicy lime and chilli vinaigrette with lemongrass, mint and shallot, ปลาหิมะทอดซอสเต้าเจี้ยว this is their version of grilled Blackened cod which is accented with savoury ginger and a pickled yellow bean sauce and comes not far off knocking Nobu off the top of the list for blackened cod, t'was that good. These were the stand out dishes but everything we had was worth going back for again and again.
On their website they claim that Patara is an up-scale dining concept serving a contemporary Thai cuisine, maintaining the authentic flavours of Thai culinary excellence. Often when you read things like that on their own website you take it with a pinch of salt. This time however I think that they have hit the nail on the head, and since they opened their first branch on the Fulham Road in 1990 they have built a very small select chain (more Tiffany than Ratner) of these bespoke Thai restaurants, with a grand total of 9 worldwide 4 in London, 2 in Singapore; 1 in Taipei; 1 in Geneva and in the tradition of taking coal to Newcastle one in Bangkok.
Really enjoyed the whole experience and will now make them my Thai of choice.
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