Farang

Thai

72 Highbury Park, N5 2XE

££

Thai’s in London aren’t hard to come by. There are a number of good ones: Kiln, Kin Deum, The Pepper Tree, Crazy Bear, Smoking Goat, to name a few… there are, however, not many show-stoppers when it comes to grasping the full flavour, sophistication and experimentation of true Thai flavours. The only place I have visited which has blown me away is Som Saa in Aldgate: a true gem, leaving you with a taste sensation near impossible to forget.

(Image not my own)

Farang began in 2016 as a street food trader, and just a year later took up a permanent home in Highbury as a pop-up. Highbury itself is a really lovely area, one I had never ventured to before, and there is a great beer garden in nearby pub The Bank of Friendship if you fancy a pre or post dinner tipple. After some seriously good reviews, Farang took on the space permanently, and has since been inducted into the National Restaurant Awards top 100, and earned a MICHELIN Bib Gourmand (not to be confused with a Michelin star…)

We booked a table for 7:15pm on a Thursday night, and when we arrived the place was popping – almost full. The waiters were all young and enthusiastic, talking us through the menu and serving us drinks immediately. The space is decorated with various indoor-plants for effect made the venue seem lighter and airier, and the smells which exude from the kitchen and tables are pungent in all the right ways. The flavours of the food here are by the far the most reminiscent of Thailand I’ve experienced. Farang actually won the Thai select award from the UK Thai Embassy, which certifies authenticity and the freshness of their ingredients. If that’s not enough to convince you, then it's probably only certification from Vajiralongkorn (or King Rama X) that will.

After a long while pondering the menu, we went for the Prík néua (£9) – a crispy chilli beer marinated in ginger, sweet soy, garlic and chilli. Spicier than expected, and less crispy that it’s oriental counterpart, this dish was nonetheless the best crispy chilli beef I have ever had. The sweet and sour flavour literally popped as soon as the first piece hit your mouth, and continued throughout the whole dish. The herbs it was served with complimented the sauce and the chilli was just the right amount of spicy – hot, but with a limit.

For main, we ordered one of the specials (£9.5), which contained chicken, trout and enormous prawns. The helping was generous, and the amount of both meat and fish more than you would get in other places. The sauce it was submerged in was reminiscent of a red curry, but slightly sweeter and less spicy. This can be described as nothing short of delicious and was easily my favourite dish of the evening. We followed this with a Gròp Bplaa (£18), which was a whole crispy sea-bass with a sour fruit salad. This wouldn’t have been my first choice, and was probably my least favourite dish of the evening, but was the other’s favourite, and was still bloody tasty. A crispy exterior landed into flakey and tender fish, with a once again flavoured-pumped salad which jazzed up this more subtle flavoured fish.

(Image not my own)

There weren’t many juices to mop up with the dishes we ordered, but we accompanied them with a Roasted Garlic and Tumeric roti (£3.5) and some Steamed Rice (£2) nonetheless. The roti was thick and dripping in oil – in the kind of way that makes you look at it as if it were some kind of miracle. We washed the food down with 4 bottles of their cheapest white wine, which was Italian and cost £22. Service was quick enough to tend to our extreme hunger, but relaxed and friendly. Farang made me question my best Thai out of Thailand, and having Som Saa as a previous winner, I think it is a serious contender for the top spot…

OVERALL RATING: *****

https://faranglondon.co.uk/

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