What: A casual restaurant in the hinterland between Chinatown and Leicester Square that serves a menu inspired by the Thai-Chinese cuisine found in Bangkok’s own Chinatown. On Rupert Street, Speedboat Bar majors in curries, stir fries, drunken noodle dishes and salads which are offered alongside whisky sodas and sharing towers of ice-cold Singha beer.
Who: Speedboat Bar is the latest restaurant from chef and exotic ingredients grower Luke Farrell. Since teaming up with Gymkhana and Trishna-owner JKS Restaurants last year, he has launched a number of South East Asian ventures including pop-up Vietpopulaire and Indonesian street food stall Bebek!Bebek! and Southern Thai restaurant Plaza Khao Gaeng, which are both located in Arcade Food Hall. The increasingly prolific Farrell - a number of other projects are in the works - now splits his time between Thailand, London, and Ryewater Nursery in Dorset.
The vibe: On the former site of JKS Restaurants-backed Tawainese restaurant Xu, Speedboat Bar has a themed feel with walls decorated with souvenirs, awards and signed portraits of speedboat racers and staff kitted out in specially made Speedboat team football kit. The utilitarian, stainless steel finish downstairs is balanced by a more comfortable-looking upstairs area with a large bar and pool table. Wall-mounted TVs display Thai re-runs of Thai sports, including sepak takraw, a compelling hybrid between football and volleyball. The restaurant's playlist is eclectic, combining Western music of a certain vintage - when was the last time you heard Morrissey in a restaurant? - with Thai pop.
The food: Farrell’s simple and notably concise menu (there are about 20 dishes in total) is a love letter to the food of Bangkok’s neon-lit Yaowarat Road where Chinese and Thai flavours collide. Key dishes include sweet corn fritters; salad of pickled mustard greens and Chinese sausage; drunkard’s seafood and beef noodles; minced beef with holy basil; and crispy pork and black pepper curry. Speedboat’s signature dish, Tom Yam Mama, is influenced by a long-standing restaurant in the area that combines Mama-brand instant noodles with roasted pork, squid, limes and long leaf coriander to create a fragrant soup. There is a single dessert - a clever take on the deep-fried pineapple pies found in Thailand’s ubiquitous 7Eleven shops. Prices are fairly approachable, with set menus starting at £45 per head, snacks and salads £10 and under and ‘special’ dishes designed to be shared around the £20 mark
To drink: The drinks offer is as tight as the food menu and is focused on beer, whisky sodas and cocktails, including Snakeblood Negroni (Spirit of Ryewater, Campari and sweet vermouth; and Vodka Farang (pink guava vodka, soda and kumquat). Prices are again approachable for the area with all cocktails well under £10 and half a pint of Singha priced at £3.50 (a three litre Singha tower costs £35).
And another thing: Speedboat Bar is an undeniably fun place with a seriously authentic food offer thanks to Farrell’s knowledge of Thai cuisine and his unparalleled access to ingredients.