Som saa Thai pop-up to open in east London

Co-founders Andy Oliver and Tom George have converted Climpsons Arch into a 40-cover bar and restaurant. Once opened, the pop-up will stay in this location until early 2015 and will be open Thursdays to Sundays.

Oliver will act in the role of head chef, having had almost ten years’ experience in Thai cuisine training under David Thompson at the Michelin-starred Nahm and at Bo.Lan in Bangkok.

Som saa will serve lesser-known dishes from Northern and North Easter provinces in Thailand using charcoal grills and a wood fired oven.

Food offering​

Oliver has put together a menu that emphasises the shared eating style which is the norm in rural and provincial Thailand. The pop-up will serve sharing platters, spicy Thai bar snacks and classic Thai brunch dishes.

Oliver said: “Som saa is all about bringing a range of authentic dishes from a broad and under-represented cuisine, directly to Londoners. Our aim is to showcase these incredibly diverse dishes using the best ingredients we can possibly source.”   

Main dishes on the menu will include choices such as khao thort si naem (crispy rice croquette with fermented pork, peanuts and ginger), and gaeng hung lay (a northern style pork curry with pickled garlic and ginger). Desserts on offer include salted palm sugar ice cream with sesame fried Asian banana.

At weekends classic Thai brunch dishes such as Chinese doughnuts and rice porridge with crispy pork will be on the menu, as well as an exclusive Thai coffee which was developed with Climpson and Sons Coffee.

Asian-inspired drinks​

Som saa will also have a large drinks menu which will present a range of craft beer and wine, as well as Asian beers such as Beer Lao in cans.

The bar will also serve a range of Asian-inspired cocktails such as the Muay Thai Kick, a mixture of gin, Thai basil, lime, sugar and basil seeds, and the Imperial Fizz, which will contain Prosecco, jasmine silver needle tea, and yellow chartreuse.