Boldly eschewing the more traditional trimmings of a Thai restaurant, Charm embraces a contemporary West End restaurant feel. The bar is a great place to spend an evening, and the restaurant offers exceptional food and service. While looking every bit as elegant as it does, it’s surprisingly good value.
Charm offers fusion cooking from an à la carte menu and traditional Thai food from a separate Thai specialities menu. In fact, the specialities menu alone has gained quite a following, having acquired a fantastic reputation amongst Thai nationals and expats through word of mouth – always a good indication. Having come from a family of Thai chefs, Charm’s head chef received her culinary schooling early on and has an intimate knowledge of spices and herbs. Her expertise is evident in the fresh, meticulously prepared dishes on offer. We sampled dishes from both menus: from the Thai menu, the naam dtok – a beef or pork salad with chilli powder, mint, spring onions, lime and toasted ground rice – really excited the tastebuds, while the staple street food of sundried pork was incredibly moreish. From the à la carte menu we devoured a slightly smoky steamed dim sum selection. Shrimp, pork and prawns, Chinese chive and shrimp and mushroom satay with peanut sauce made ideal starters, while steamed sea bass fillet with coriander, chilli, garlic and lime and confit duck leg in a soy marinade with lemongrass made for delicious mains.
For a night of divine, diverse cuisine, this restaurant really does work a charm.