Last Updated on April 22, 2024
Keeping it Real
Although I’ve travelled to Thailand on several occasions, I wouldn’t claim to be an expert on Thai cuisine, but I know someone who is! So, when the opportunity came up to review Nipa Thai, a Thai restaurant that sits in the Glitzy Royal Lancaster Hotel just around the corner from Lancaster Gate tube, my choice of guest was obvious.
The Royal Lancaster Hotel is the sister hotel to The Landmark in Bangkok which houses the original Nipa Thai restaurant (Nipa means Shining Light in Thai). Nipa Thai London offers ‘the most authentic Thai cuisine outside of Bangkok’ and has won an award from the Thai Government to that end.
Both the Bangkok and London restaurants have an all-female kitchen brigade which is normal in domestic settings but not in Thai restaurants, with Head Chef Sanguan Parr alongside the charming Restaurant Manager Kaseam Jongpitakrat, having been with Nipa Thai for over 20 years.
The menu is divided into five sections: Soups & Salad, Curries, Pan-fried dishes, Side Dishes and Desserts. There are also some veery enticing sounding regional set menus based around the capital city Bangkok, the northern city of Chiang Mai and the seaside resort Phuket as well as a Vegetarian Set menu. The interior has full-length windows giving a fabulous view onto Hyde Park. There is Thai ornamentation and elegant teak tables and fittings with mellow Thai background music adding to the ambiance.
We ordered a couple of cocktails to get us in the mood for eating. Thai food is all about the balance between sweet, sour, spicy, bitter and salty flavours, but many restaurants make the mistake of over-sweetening the food for Western palates. The Madame Nipa was the perfect cocktail for the spice and heat of the food; a blend of Kaffir Patron Silver tequila, the bitterness of Campari, the sweetness of Agave nectar and the acidity of 3 Cent grapefruit soda. If you’re not in the mood for alcohol then a Nam Manao, lime juice syrup and soda water provides an authentically refreshing evocation of summers in Thailand. A crispy amuse bouche popped out of the kitchen fryer to get us started – a sweet potato and sweetcorn fritter with a sweet chilli sauce on the side.
And then from the appetisers menu, some proper prawn crackers, full of crustacean flavour and with a slight heat. The accompanying chilli paste (Nam Prik Pao) was not so gentle but still very good!
Toong Ngern Yuan – fried prawn dumplings served with a homemade sauce were hot little parcels of prawn pleasure with a spicy dipping sauce.
I’m a big fan of crispy soft-shell crab – Yum Ma Muang Poo Nim – and this was perfectly done. Here served with a spicy unripe mango salad, toasted cashews and coriander marinated in lime juice. With the crunch of the cashews and the natural sweetness of coriander this was posh Thai dinner party food at its finest.
We moved on to a crisp, grassy glass of Sauvignon Blanc to help us along with our mains. Phad Kra Prao Koong – Fat, stir-fried prawns with chillies and basil leaves sat in a deep rich sauce with a powerful chilli kick. A bowl of fragrant Jasmine rice helped to mop up the heat.
Huge juicy scallops and Thai aubergine were doused in a piquant and beautifully balanced green curry with the herbal note of Thai Basil foregrounded. P.S. This dish was off menu but if you ask them nicely…!
Fried sea bass – Pla Phad Char – was light and fragrantly spiced with Thai aubergine, lemongrass, red chilli, lime, sweet basil and peppercorns with the flavour of the fish not being overwhelmed.
I struggle to make a Prawn Pad Thai that isn’t glutinous. This was beautifully constructed and without the annoying stickiness. With crushed peanuts, cubes of tofu, spring onion and narrow egg noodles this was a next level Pad Thai.
A healthy dessert of beautifully carved Thai fruit – melon, papaya, pineapple, strawberries, grapes and Dragon fruit was all we could manage after such a feast!
If you’re looking to explore a new cuisine or are fans of Thai food and want somewhere, smart, friendly and stylish that offers authentic Thai cooking, then you should try Nipa Thai. Enjoy the view!
Royal Lancaster London
Lancaster Terrace,
London, W2 2TY
+44 207 551 6011
For more about the Royal Lancaster Hotel do check our review
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