On my way to Speedboat Bar, a relatively new Thai “party canteen” in between Leicester Square and Shaftesbury Avenue, I can’t help but wonder if I’ve made a mistake. I am extremely hungover, and while something hot and spicy seemed like the perfect antidote when I left home, the smog of the Picadilly line is quickly convincing me otherwise.
But in the spirit of being a Yes Woman (a 2022 resolution I’m not sure I’ll be reviving), I push on and by the time I’m sat at a high table upstairs with an ice cold King Kushti pilsner and a bowl of deep fried chicken skins doused in zaep seasoning – which in this moment tastes like some kind of salty, sweet and sour crack – the hangxiety begins to dissipate.
