The Speedboat Bar, London

I visited The Speedboat Bar at the bottom of London’s Chinatown late on a cold, wet February evening and was instantly transported to the tropics. Red plastic bar stools welcomed us in and the Thai bar theme continued inside. There’s a seated restaurant space downstairs but we headed up the spiral staircase to the bar above.

““A foodie bar where the music and flavour are turned up to full volume and are all the better for it.””

If you are getting the impression, that this is a bar with snacks, you are right, but it’s a foodie bar where the music and flavour are turned up to full volume and are all the better for it.

And, it doesn’t mean that Chef Luke Farrell isn’t serious about his food. He spent 15 years living in Thailand and takes flavour so seriously he grows his own ‘living library of Southeast Asian plants’ from cuttings he brought back.

We went for a few smaller dishes as the hour was late. Chicken Skins with Zaep Seasoning, Soy Cured Pork with Chilli and Mint, Purple Aubergines with Chilli and Thai Basil and Chicken Matchsticks with Green Mango Kerabu.

Everything was beyond delicious, packed with layers of flavour and the service was friendly and brisk.

Chicken skins were as puffed and crunchy as pork scratchings but with indecent levels of umami and the roasted aubergine was served in a seductively deep dark, sweet and smokey chilli and soy sauce.

Thinly sliced pork had an orange sweetness with a fresh mint hit and the chicken was delightfully sweet sour with crunchy green mango matchsticks.

While we ate, the music blasted out, but a fantastic sound system meant that the ambience was as perfectly balanced as the food.

This isn’t your average British Thai restaurant with a gentle chicken satay and polite prawns on toast. It’s full flavoured, unapologetically punchy street food which grabs your taste buds and swings them round the room.

I’ll be returning as soon as possible to sample more of both the fantastic tunes and the incredible food.

If you can, hot foot it down there as soon as humanly possible.