Considering the West's obsession with Thai food, feeling at home is a mere tube ride away (Tottenham Court Road) when holidaying in London. Opening on April 22, in Arcade Food Hall Centrepoint on Oxford Street is Plaza: Raan Khao Gaeng, Luke Farrell's debut with JKS Restaurants.
When Guru first interviewed Farrell, chef, grower and purveyor of Asian ingredients, he expressed a desire to "open a nursery-to table restaurant, something like a Thai house along a khlong, something very rustic", connected to his greenhouses at Ryewater Nursery in Dorset, southern England (bit.ly/3LvfmYy). While his new venture may not be similar, it does pay homage to a cuisine and country he loves.
"What is so wonderful about a raan khao gaeng is that everything is spread out, a kaleidoscope of curries resplendent. Whatever you fancy on rice, the entirety of Thai comfort food complete with wonky spoons and melamine plates. You pick what's good and sink into your rice. I've tried to recreate this same exact experience at Plaza.
"We start with southern Thai curries, fiery peppery klua kling, gaeng gati with our freshly pressed coconut milk and vegetables will include bitter gourd with egg. We are importing curry pastes from Phatthalung -- they are made especially for Plaza using fruity long pepper and the correct southern Thai turmeric and chillies. With generations of experience and fresh ingredients at the curry makers' fingertips, it makes all the difference.
"In that same spirit, I add herbs like betel leaf, cumin leaf, perfumed cardamom fronds and fragrant chillies from my tropical greenhouses in Dorset, all with the floral and fleeting aromas that would struggle with the long journey from Thailand," emphasises Farrell.
Think curries such as Gaeng tai pla, smoky mackerel with fermented fish innards, bamboo shoots and Thai aubergine, and southern sour orange Gaeng som, with garcinia, among other puckering fruits and fish. Seasonal stir-fries will feature Goong pad sator or prawns stir-fried with stinky beans and pla ra. Quell the spice with a range of drinks from tropical cocktails, lime sodas, Thai-style milky iced tea and coffee.
At its core, Plaza is a celebration of southern Thailand manifesting coast-to-jungle cuisine, mostly under-represented outside the country. Farrell's raan khao gaeng is inspired by an old Thai movie cinema, with curries being set out in gleaming trays filling the entrance under the faded façade and up the stairs to the box office. This anytime comfort food will provide a pause in a place cool and quiet from the bustle of the street below.
However, the Southeast Asia's delights don't end there. Farrell's second offering, Bebek! Bebek! will be an Indonesian street kitchen, also at Arcade. Bringing the colour and culinary drama of an Indonesian hawker stand, Bebek! Bebek! will focus on traditional smoked duck and chicken from Yogyakarta, made possible with Indonesian ingredients and fresh produce from Ryewater. "Specially imported flat pestle and mortars, made with volcanic rock from Mount Merapi, will release the essential oils of crimson 'devil' chillies for sambals, crushed sour green mango, palm sugar and tamarind for dressings, and even 'pound' the crispy-fried duck and chicken for that toothsome street food texture," explains Farrell.
Dive into the night-market style menu with Sate maranggi, beef satay grilled over a cascading waterfall of smoke on a traditional double charcoal grill. Mains will include wildly-spiced Bebek goreng duck leg or Ayam penyet, crunchy chicken leg "smashed" and slathered in sambal. All accompanied by kerupuk crackers, salads spiked with pickles, tofu, tempeh and tangy sambals, the cornerstone of Indonesian cuisine.
Booking lines for Plaza: Raan Khao Gaeng open today. Visit plazakhaogaeng.com or IG @plazakhaogaeng, IG @bebekbebek_ldn.
