Already hugely popular across Asia – they have an impressive 17 restaurants from Hong Kong to Singapore – Greyhound Café has finally arrived on London’s Berners Street!
Originally a fashion house back in the 80’s, Greyhound was the brainchild of Thai designer Bhanu Inkawat before it morphed into the restaurant biz you see today. It shows – waiters wear cheeky t-shirts with tongue in cheek slogans and the whole place is decked out in Bangkok style ‘shophouse shutters’, ‘Cho Huay’ (Thai grocery store) inspired bric-a- brac shelves full to the brim and the restaurant’s centrepiece, a hanging oversized Sai fish trap attracting a school of woven Tilapia, a Thai symbol for good fortune.
But what about the food we hear you ask? Thai with a twist is how Greyhound Café describe themselves and that’s certainly the impression we got.
Food as and when it’s ready and is the norm in Thailand, dishes are very much designed to be shared. There’s also a sizeable vegetarian section that’s bound to go down a treat. We started with their signature ‘Salmon in Hot Pursuit’, a small platter of thinly sliced sashimi-grade salmon in chilli-spiked green sauce and scallop pad thai – a luxe version of a classic dish.
The hot oil pork knuckle may sound terrifying but we’d say it’s a must order. Chewy (in a good way!), melty pork chunks in a sticky tamarind curry paste are presented on a tray alongside sticky rice, dips and pickles.
Dessert is a breakfast hybrid – Happy Toast left us feeling just that. A super thick slice of white French toast is served alongside four squeezey tubes of Thai tea custard, coffee custard, sea salt caramel and Thai favourite – condensed milk! A pretty fun dish that will no doubt put a smile on your face.
There’s a decent cocktail list, but we’d recommend the Cha La Wan Pale Ale – they’re the only place to stock this craft beer outside of Thailand and we know you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover but it does have a dinosaur on the label so that’s another reason to get it.
“London and Bangkok share a mutually cosmopolitan outlook, so I am very excited to be introducing Greyhound Café to Londoners. Although we are Thai at heart, the restaurant will be anything but a traditional Thai restaurant”, says Bhanu. “Our inspirations come from far and wide, some recipes were handed down from our grandmothers, some were dishes from our travel memories and others were inspired by our midnight fridge raids. Just like in Bangkok, we mix traditional and international, street and couture, all fused together in a beautiful, chaotic way”.
