Khao-Sō-i is a restaurant which is obsessed with authenticity. We know this because when we ordered a bottle of LEO beer we were told that it actually wasn’t available yet because the restaurant was shipping it in especially and it was currently somewhere in the middle of the ocean. They also told us that they fly their spice pastes in from Northern Thailand to ensure high-quality ingredients. A trip to the bathrooms downstairs even sees you walk past mound upon mound of coconuts, with Khao-Sō-i cracking 100kg of them a day to ensure a steady supply of fresh coconut milk.

If all of that sounds like a bit too much commitment then don’t worry, the restaurant itself is incredibly laid back, with staff who are only too happy to spend a bit of time explaining the menu or recommending a cocktail to anyone uninitiated in the intricacies of Thai food – no pop quizzes about what’s in a moo ping or how best to tackle the restaurant’s signature khao soi.

Life is also made easier by the fact that everything we try tastes absolutely incredible. That moo ping we mentioned earlier is a skewer of grilled pork belly served with an egg for dipping. Yes, it’s just as good as it sounds. Another grilled delight is the gai yang pong yi ra, a barbecued chicken thigh with cumin and oyster sauce which manages to be so much more than the sum of its parts. Both of these dishes benefit from the genuine charcoal grill they’re cooked over, with chefs tending as much to the grill itself as to the food, with great results.

Name your restaurant after one thing you serve though, and that’s what you’ll be judged on. So how is the khao soi? Really, really (really) good. Packed with prickly heat, its broth is heavy with coconut milk and honestly worth drinking straight out of the bowl. Rising from this delicious stock is a mound of the freshest-tasting noodles we’ve ever had. We opt for the langoustine variant and are rewarded with two huge shell-on crustaceans, but a quick look around the restaurant confirms that any of the meat or veg options are being enjoyed with equal gusto.

Signing off the meal with a flourish is Khao-Sō-i’s cha thai cheesecake. It’s a Basque-style cheesecake, but we promise you won’t have had anything quite like it before, even with London’s current obsession with the things. A subtle tea flavouring permeates and elevates it, leaving a distinctly Thai-flavoured dessert that still feels incredibly decadent. Trust us, you’ll want to leave some room for it.

By all accounts, good-tasting Thai food can be hard to come by in London. Good tasting Northern Thai food is even harder to find, and with the lengths Khao-Sō-i have had to go to in order to make it, it’s no wonder. We couldn’t possibly comment on whether cracking all those coconuts or flying all those spices in is worth the payoff, but we can tell you one thing for sure: Khao-Sō-i is absolutely worth visiting.

For more information on Khao-Sō-i, see here

9-10 Market Pl, London W1W 8AQ