One of the latest openings is Kaosarn, a small Thai cafe located at the Coldharbour Lane end of the arcade. I was lured in by the thought of some decent Thai food after the abomination I had the other week. I ordered chicken stir fried with rice, chilli, holy basil and a fried egg (Kao pad kra pao or somethingorother in Thai), and water. Iced tap water was supplied without question or suggestion of the bottled stuff.
I enjoyed eating this. Sweet, salty and hot, with added richness from the runny egg yolk and texture from the crispy bits of egg white. The chicken wasn't overcooked and the rice was just right. My only criticism was that it needed a bit more chilli and a bit more basil. In summary, nothing mind blowing just good well cooked food, just what the doctor ordered on a damp, miserable day.
The staff are also worth a mention, as they were lovely. The waitress looked worried on delivery of my food, and explained that the fried egg was the Thai style of serving it. She seemed to be concerned I wouldn't like the look of it. I proved my satisfaction by eating the plateful in about five minutes. The older guy doing the cooking also left the stove when I was leaving to ask if I'd enjoyed the food and if it was too hot. I told him a bit hotter would be great and he was almost apologetic. I reassured him that I'd enjoyed it anyway and he seemed genuinely pleased.
I hope this place is a resounding success. The food is good, it's reasonably priced (stir-fry was £6.90 plus tip), and the people running the place are genuinely keen to impress.
7.5/10 (bonus 0.5 for being so nice!)
Kaosarn
Brixton Village Market
Brixton
London
SW9 8PR
I personally, having visited this restaurant on two occasions would suggest that it be avoided...the food is good enough, but the staff are exceptionally rude and determined to create a bad atmosphere, one the basis of my experience yesterday, where I was quite literally scorned by a member of the family for asking to sit in a window table, with no reservation card on it, and told to "sit where I'm told to sit"! This establishment doesn't deserve to receive such high ratings if it means they are under the mistaken belief that they can treat customers so badly. Understandably, I walked out on this occasion, and asked them why they were being so rude. I only wished I had done so on my previous attempt to have a pleasant meal there, when I had to wait for an inexcusably long time for my food, while having to endure table after table of other diners being served before me. When I politely pointed out that I had been waiting for rather a long time for them to even TAKE My Order, they were very brusque with me indeed. Not good enought, folks!
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