Chic, village-like Marylebone, just to the north of far flashier Mayfair, has had a quiet culinary bloom in recent years – and leading the charge is AngloThai, which earned its first Michelin star just three months after opening.
Although officially launched as a brick-and-mortar restaurant in November, AngloThai’s origins go way back. Initially launched by husband and wife duo John and Desiree Chantarasak as pop-up concept prior to Covid-19, the concept has seen many iterations since.
There’s been pop ups, there’s been residencies and there’s been supper clubs (several of which were hosted inside the Chantarasak’s family home, while Desiree was heavily pregnant), each showcasing their ever-developing take on modern Thai food.
Undoubtable stress aside, the above served to create a serious amount of anticipation, and when whispers of the duo finally opening a permanent space started swirling, ears were pricked. Responsible for finally bringing the vision to life was MJMK Restaurants, a London-based group that counts the Michelin-starred KOL, Lisboeta and Fonda in its ranks. Fortunately the anticipation was matched with quality and the wait for AngloThai was worth it; even Michelin says so.
Must order:
It’s tasting menu only: six courses at lunch, nine at dinner.
What to drink:
Sommelier Desiree Chantarasak’s wine list is amazing. Have a pear martini, then the wine pairing.
Best seat in the house:
Nab a table by the window.
Chef
Born in Liverpool and raised in Wales by a British mother and a Thai father, John was exposed to the wonders of multicultural cooking from a young age – but it wasn’t until his late twenties that professional cooking became a viable career path for him.
Following a stint as a professional musician, numerous temp jobs around London and months of travelling the US, John was encouraged to sign up to the Le Cordon Bleu Bangkok course in 2013. He thrived and was immensely inspired by the Thai cuisine and culture – especially its street food scene. After finishing top of the class, John staged at Nahm, a Michelin-starred restaurant honoring Thai flavors.
After returning to the UK, John worked at Som Saa, where he was promoted to sous chef. In 2018, he went it alone, working on pop-ups across London, representing Wales in BBC cookery show The Great British Menu and producing a cookbook on Thai flavors.
Amid all this, AngloThai was born. The concept piqued the interest of Marco Mendes and Jake Kasumov who loved keenly followed John as hosted pop ups and residencies, and wanted to go into business with him and Desiree. A few set backs (incuding one flaky landlord) later, and the idea is reality.
Menu
As its name suggests, AngloThai’s food intertwines British and Thai cuisine, in a nod to John’s Thai-British heritage. While flavors lean firmly into the Thai side of things, ‘Anglo’ is mainly responsible for the ingredients.
Chantarasak has committed to only using British produce, and some smart swaps have come as a result: tangy seabuckthorn berries are used in place of tamarind; sunflower seeds replace peanuts; and Holy Basil is Suffolk-grown. Even rice, the Thai staple, gets switched our for British grains.
We’re firmly in the fine dining realm here (with prices to match), and the tasting menu format feels familiar and approachable – there’s six courses for lunch and nine for dinner. A rich crab broth, laced with lemongrass and marigold, gets the party started, swiftly followed by a trio of snacks. There’s charred mackerel in a delicate seaweed tart and a nugget of sticky, spicy chicken, but the disc of crunchy kohlrabi topped with candied beetroot steals the show.
A quickly emerging AngloThai signature, Brixham crab is served two ways. The sweet white meat is piled high with Exmoor caviar (to be eaten with the accompanying pearl caviar spoon); the brown meat is siphoned into a charcoal-colored cracker, artfully shaped into the restaurant’s Thai-flower-shaped motif and finished with a whisper of sweet elderflower gel. The little details go the extra mile, here.
We get properly into the Thai flavours later, epitomized in the beef tongue with ‘Jungle’ curry. A traditional dish originating in the north of the country, jungle curry differs from many Thai dishes in that it lacks coconut. As a result, it packs a punch. AngloThai’s overall spice level has definitely been dialled down to suit a British palette, but all the flavor is there in bucketloads; swipe the last drop up with the accompanying sticky brioche buns.
The courses are generous, but ensure you have room for dessert: the teeny little madeline-style cakes are warm and buttery, and spiced with poppy seeds. I could have eaten ten.
The wine list has been entirely curated by Desiree – it’s available by the glass and the bottle, but do the pairing, which is thoughtful and intriguing. We stray further from British lands here (although a rich, citrussy English sparkling by Domaine Hugo kicks things off), though we never vere from Europe. Desiree prioritizes organic and biodynamic producers, with primary focus on cooler vineyards of central Europe. The house wine is an exclusive, made in partnership with Austrian winery, Nibiru.
Interiors
At AngloThai, the interior provides an enchanting story in its own right. Both the main 44-seat dining room and private dining space, Baan, were designed by Thai-American designer May Redding. Redding has filled the space with skillfully considered curios and crafts from Thailand’s contemporary design movement. The end result is a space that’s at once warm and welcoming, like stopping by an old friend’s for dinner.
Traditional furniture is provided by Moonler, a Chiang Mai-based manufacturer that specializes in Chamachuri wood. A range of bespoke tables, chairs and an impressive 13-ft dining table in Baan fills the space.
The ambience is delivered in part by Robert Sukachard’s Ban Pa Ao lighting, a collection named after the last village in Northern Thailand to craft wax-cast brass items. Each piece is a one-off, with imperfections that reveal both the hand of the maker and natural materials involved in the process. Similarly, the walls are adorned by abstract pieces from Chiang Mai-based artist Archivio Asazak.
With the Thai aspect artfully represented, Welsh ceramicist Matthew Jones covers the Anglo side, producing the restaurant’s crockery, which is made from local clays and Thai-inspired glazes.
An often-overlooked aspect of dinner, at AngloThai, the music deserves a special mention. As a former musician, John teamed up with his close friend and music industry insider Ben Baptie to devise the playlist. Featuring a decade-spanning, globetrotting smorgasbord of tracks, you’ll likely leave AngloThai with a few additions to your own playlists.
AngloThai, 31-32 Eastcastle Street, London, W1W 8DN, anglothai.co.uk
