Som Saa
London’s always had a bunch of Thai restaurants and Som Saa has a reputation of being one of the best. I’d been for a drink in the past before so thought it’d be nice to go try the food.
We still started with a drink (of course :p)! We ordered a Sylhet Smash and a Dragon’s Milk. These were both good with the Sylhet Smash almost a little bit like a caipirinha with coconut infused cachaca, lime and sugar. The Dragon’s Milk was a bit different with rum, coffee liquor, cococunt and condensed milk. It was pretty strong, sweet and milky; not what I normally go for but it was tasty!
Then it was onto the food. This first dish was curried prawns with coconut cream, onions and egg. The prawns were big and juicy and the curry smelt great! There were big chunks of onion and the egg was scrambled in. Really tasty!
This was Thai Style Fried Chicken on the menu but I have to admit, it seemed pretty grilled to me. Either way, it was delicious! It came with a layer of crispy garlic and a sweet soy sauce. This was really good!
We also ordered a whole deep fried sea bass. This was great! It was fried really well with a crispy skin but with the meat underneath tender and so fresh! The fish was balanced nicely with the sauce which had a nice bit of sourness to it; really good!
We also ordered a fish curry with mussels and betel leaf. This was also good but pretty spicy. It’s a bit of a slow burn and builds to a pretty intense heat. There were huge chunks of fish in it which were really nice and a good number of mussels too. We got both sticky rice and jasmine rice to go with it which I think it needed. It’s a nice touch that if everyone on the table gets rice, you get free refills. I think I would’ve preferred this just a little less spicy but I liked it!
We shared a desert of pumpkin and coconut duck egg custard with a spring roll skin biscuit with sesame seeds. The custard was really thick, almost like red bean paste but had a rich pumpkin flavour with that dollop of coconut cream on top. The whole thing went really well together and the biscuit was nice and crisp; just a nice way to end the meal!
I have to admit, Thai food is never going to be my favourite cuisine I don’t think but as Thai food goes, this place is pretty good! It’s a little out of the way on Commercial Road but if you do happen to be in the area, you won’t go too far wrong with either drinks or food!
Som Saa, 43a Commercial Street, Spitalfields, London E1 6BD
Cheers, JL
