Thai guy: Luke Farrell won acclaim for his Plaza Khao Gaeng restaurant earlier this year
(Picture: Benjamin McMahon)The chef behind hit Thai restaurant Plaza Khao Gaeng will launch another venture inspired by the country this September.
Speedboat Bar, which is set to open on Soho’s Rupert Street, will be helmed by Luke Farrell and model itself on the neon-lit restaurants of Bangkok’s Chinatown.
Wok-cooked dishes, roasted meats and spicy sauces will populate the menu, alongside a selection of Thai spirits and rice wines, Singha beer towers designed for sharing, slushies and chasers, as well as a range of cocktails.
It’s the latest collaboration between Farrell and JKS Restaurants, who in addition to Plaza Khao Gaeng — which focused on the intense flavours of Thailand’s southern regions — have also worked together on the Viet Populaire pop-up in Soho back in October, as well as the Indonesian street food stall Bebek! Bebek! at Arcade Food Hall.
At Speedboat Bar, which takes its name from the high-octane racing that takes place on Thailand’s klongs (canals), the menu will explore food that is Chinese in origin, but has since become distinctly Thai.
The creamy Tom Yam Mama soup will stand as the restaurant’s signature dish, alongside food market staples such as drunken noodles, stir fries and sticky meat braises. Elsewhere, the offering will range from lychee and roasted duck curry and soya chicken with winter melon to Yam Mamuang — a salad of green mango, crispy fish, chillies and pork floss.
There will only be one dessert — a candied pineapple and butter pie, a twist on the snack found at Thai convenience stores — with food being served from lunch through to dinner. Many of the menu’s native Thai ingredients and herbs will be cultivated and grown at Farrell’s Dorset nursery, Ryewater.
The cocktail menu will reimagine classic serves with the so-called Snakesblood Negroni and Shop Window Old Fashioned, while a Jelly Bia will incorporate frozen Leo lager, one of Thailand’s most popular beers.
A lively atmosphere looks likely at Speedboat — the playlist will incorporate Thai pop, turbo folk and mor lam music, with a pool table open to diners and drinkers.
Farrell said: “Speedboat Bar will be inspired by my friends, the speedboat racers, whizzing down the klongs in Samut Sakhon and the neon-fuelled party of Bangkok’s Chinatown. Things I live for, a fascinating traditional Thai sport and a historic cuisine coming together.”
Farrell, who trained at Spanish-Italian restaurant group Salt Yard before leaving to hone his skills in South-East Asia, currently splits his time between Thailand, London and Dorset. JKS counts the likes of Trishna, Gymkhana, Berenjak, Hoppers and Sabor, as well as the recently launched Arcade Food Hall, among its vast collection of restaurants and pubs.
