Smoking Goat Shoreditch

Thai BBQ

64 Shoreditch High St, E1 6JJ

££

After visiting Smoking Goat Soho for an office Christmas meal back in 2016, I had almost forgotten about this daring, experimental Thai BBQ joint. The Soho establishment closed in early 2018, which would have been a catastrophe had the Shoreditch location not been snapped up the year before. Having a running theme with my Mum of Thai birthday meals (having Som Saa, The Begging Bowl and Cher the previous years), I decided that there was no better place to return to for my her December birthday this year.

Much like I remember the Soho joint being, Smoking Goat Shoreditch is dark wooden interiors with sleek furniture, dark green brick walls, and trendy 20-something staff. We arrived a little ahead of our booking (18:30) to get some drinks beforehand. At this time it didn’t seem too busy, however, quickly filled up from 8 onwards and was jam packed when we left at 9. On arrival, we were seated at a high table in a corner – but given it was my mum’s birthday and she was always going to get her way, we managed to move to a lower table near the front of the restaurant because she's 'old' and 'needs back support'. The drinks list has a variation of some original and witty names such as ‘Heavier Than a Death in the Family’ and ‘King Tubby Meets the Rockers Uptown’. I was disappointed to see that some of the ones pictured on their online menu weren’t there, but ‘You Can’t Steal My Joy’ (£8.5) which we ended up ordering was a delicious, sour burst of tequila, lime and mandarin that went great with the rich spices we were going to order. Tom asked for a sharp cocktail and was recommended ‘Two Birds One Stone’ (£9) which was essentially a shit Bellini – I wouldn’t recommend.

The principle of Smoking Goat is ‘Aharn Glam Lao’: Thai Drinking Food. The plates are intended for sharing and whilst they are incredibly fresh in flavour, they are designed to also cater for that late night drunken craving feeling. From the menu, we ordered the Chilli Fish Sauce Wings (£8.6), Smoked Ox Tail and Long Pepper Laab (£9.2), Isaan Pork Laab (£7.6), Coconut and Pumpkin Salad (£6.8), Cornish Mussels with green nam jim (£11.8), Crispy aged pork belly (£11.4) and some Crab fried rice (£7.4). The first dish to arrive was the wings. My God, they were heavenly. I’ve never tasted a batter like it; light but crispy and coated in sticky sauce – the colouring was almost translucent, making the wings appear to be encased in thin layer of glass. The fish sauce provided a savoury saltiness that complimented the sweet chilli glaze. Some of the best chicken wings I’ve ever had – and the best part of the whole meal.

Set on a high, the following dishes had a lot to live up to. Next to arrive were the two laab’s: a kind of minced meat salad chopped up with spices and herbs. The Ox tail laab was rich in flavour and had a decent amount of spice which tickled your tastebuds without blowing your brains out. The pork laab, on the other hand, was around 50% pork mince and 50% fresh red chillies (seeds in). I love spicy food, but this was to the point of no return: you couldn’t taste anything else in the dish it was so overpowering and had to take a moment before chowing into any other dishes too. The crispy Pork Belly arrived and was a sight to behold: the crackling was only a thin layer but again, was so perfectly crisp it didn’t need to be any thicker. The crunch on it was perfectly crisp without being a risk of teeth breaking (something I often find when getting my chops around homemade crackling). The pork, however, was on the cold side and as Mum pointed out could definitely have benefitted from being brought out hot.

Highlights aside from the chicken wings were the Coconut and Pumpkin Salad: a rich, creamy, fragrant burst of flavour – it was sweet, sour, spicy, salty all in one. It had the filling satisfaction of the pumpkin and coconut coupled with the tangy coriander, onion, chilli and lime cutting through it all. Honestly, a slightly sour creaminess is one of the best combinations out there – probably why I’m such a sucker for a pina colada as soon as the sun comes out. The mussels were also fantastic: massive, meaty textured treats swimming in a spicy green sauce which still allowed for that distinctive taste of the seaside to creep through. Again, the freshness was dialled up to 100, which made me question how this could be drunken dining at all as it is miles away from my regular midnight big mac and nuggets.

The crab rice didn’t arrive, so we had to query it a couple of times, to which we got the response ‘ah yes, sometimes the order gets messed up’, in such a matter-of-fact, aloof way it was almost weird. The staff, energy, and overall ambience of the place is lovely – but why is dining in London so increasingly blasé about mistakes? The rice eventually arrived and was nice enough (despite Tom complaining there wasn’t any crab it in, which there was), but I couldn’t help but feel that mistakes like this are becoming more commonplace than not. After Del74 forgetting half our order, and Angelina having 2 hour wait gaps in between it's tasting menu without any semblance of guilt, I am starting to lose faith in the 'trendy' London food scene. The waitress came to usher us away at around 8:30 as they needed the table back, but offered to move us to the bar if we wanted any drinks. They didn’t do any desert which was a little odd in my opinion – quite a statement, so we just got our bill and scuttled out.

Overall, Smoking Goat is still a fun, vibrant and satisfying meal out. The meats and fish are of great quality, and aside from a few mishaps we still had a great time. The bill came to £120 for 3 of us, including two cocktails each and service. Whilst some of the dishes could have been warmer/larger/faster – the overall quality of the food here is undeniable. There’s a reason that Smoking Goat is still fully booked on weeknights 5 years after opening. Get yourself down and load up on the freshest drunken munch you’ll ever experience.

OVERALL RATING: ****

https://smokinggoatbar.com/