It’s not often that an Australian restaurant makes the journey to the UK. But one restaurant has crossed the hemisphere for a special Lunar New Year collab. This February, sAme sAme, Brisbane’s celebrated modern Thai restaurant, will make its UK debut with a two-night takeover of Shoreditch’s Noisy Oyster.

Head chef Arté Assavakavinvong’s cooking is built around fire, restraint and balance, and his food has garnered a loyal following in Brisbane. It’s all about shared plates, passed across the table, meant to be eaten together.

The Shoreditch takeover will follow the same logic. The menu is set, but relaxed, moving from snacks to richer, more substantial dishes, with an emphasis on seafood sourced locally in the UK. It opens with oysters dressed with tom kra, the fragrant coconut broth sharpened with makrut lime oil, alongside prawn betel leaves folded with lemongrass, coconut and chilli.

For something more substantial, there’s a mixed mushrooms Chiang Mai Larb with crispy makrut Leaf, coriander and khao khua, and arguably sAme sAme’s most popular dish, lon, a savoury rich coconut relish with crab, topped with Yarra Valley salmon caviar and served in the crab shell.

The mains are where the fire really comes through. There’s ocean trout stir-fried in a dry red curry with makrut lime leaf, and wagyu beef brisket grilled and dressed nahm dtok-style with mint, tamarind and roasted rice. A hot and sour green papaya salad, topped with prawn floss, cuts through the richness, before a classic Thai dessert brings things back into balance: pandan kaya, coconut sorbet and crisp lotus flower.

It’s a brief visit, just two nights, but one that offers a rare chance to experience sAme sAme’s cooking this side of the world.

2, Nicholls Clarke Yard, London E1 6SH

Bookings for the sAme sAme kitchen takeover on Tuesday 17 February and Wednesday 18 February
will be available through the Noisy Oyster website.