Smoking Goat
Shoreditch, London
When chef Ben Chapman saw his original Smoking Goat in Soho would be lost to local redevelopment, he set about finding a replacement. That site, on the corner of Redchurch Street in Shoreditch beneath Brat (also in the Super 8 restaurant stable), is now one of the busiest, buzziest places in London to find regional Thai barbecue. Its competition is Chapman’s other Soho Thai, Kiln. The large tables, loud music and big plastic plates lend themselves to a casual evening’s eating with craft ales, bottles of cider, cocktails (who could possibly resist a Maggot Brain?) and a short selection of natural wines with flavours and textures to temper the fire of the food. Bangkok’s late-night canteens are the inspiration. The regularly changing menu is praised for its variety, though it's fair to say most regulars never deviate from their order of 'chilli fish sauce wings'. The way to do it is to dip into each section of the menu: kick off with snacks such as smoked herbal sausage or those wings, try the laab (wild mushroom or chicken offal perhaps), introduce a cooling element (green tomato and Bramley apple som tum, say), and share a larger dish from the grill – perhaps whole mackerel with nam jim or a saddleback pork chop with smoked chilli jaew (dipping sauce). The produce is notably good and sourced from top suppliers such as Philip Warren, Good Earth Growers and Kernowsashimi. 'Great fun, superb cooking,' is how one fan summed up the place.
