Nahm

VERY DISAPPOINTING - 4 of us went to Nahm last night for my birthday, splashing out on the £60 a head Thai meal, as we expected it to be the best of the best. Food was good (not astonishing or outstanding, just pretty good) but the evening was ruined by the deeply average overall exprience. The menu is laid out in 5 sections, starters, soups, mains etc - which give you the impression that if you order the Thai meal, your dinner will come in nice stages, so you can enjoy a full and nicely paced meal. How wrong we were.... The soup course came with the Thai salad and the hot mains all in one - we queried it as it seemed ridiculous - it was all going to go cold by the time we'd had our soup. And salad on a hot plate?

The stupid answer was that the soup was a palate cleanser to aid enjoyment of the mains - utter tosh as the soups were very strong hot and sour, and were pretty palate-blowing even for us, who all love spicy Thai food, hence booking at Nahm. We felt 100% ripped off and made fools of. Also not helped by the couple of questions we asked (e.g. of an unusual green bean in one dish, only to have the first waiter ignore us and the second one to proudly tell us it was 'a bean'). I wouldn't waste your cash here - they may have a Michelin star but I had a better eating experience at my local Thai in Wimbledon or Fulham for £300 less than this rubbish cost us.
Comment on this reader review

Clare Scott
4 Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 0
Sunday, October 31, 2010

I have just returned from a really great lunch here. The food was lovely, with wonderful flavours, great presentation and good portion sizes (my friends green curry and bowl of rice was so big he could not finish it!) Service was very good, without being over attentive and the menu was well explained to us. I have to agree with many other and say the only down side is the room and the lack of ambience in it. At £25 a head for lunch it is a great was to sample the flavours of the only Michelin starred Thai restaurant in Europe – I for one will be back!
Comment on this reader review

Mandy Colley
8 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 8
Thursday, October 07, 2010

I was very disappointed and can't understand how the Michelin guide gave a star to this restaurant. Bad service, the food was too much spicy and hot (I asked for non spicy), no one to help to choose the wine.

Definitely will never return to this restaurant, it was a very bad experience
Comment on this reader review

Nathalie
1 Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 1
Friday, July 16, 2010

Well, it's definitely a good Thai restaurant. But I was expecting a little more. Because of its fame and its Michelin star, I was expecting to be blasted halfway to the moon. What I got was an exceptional entreè followed by a great salad, a decent soup and a good curry. What I did not get is an unforgettable meal.

The ambient is ok, not a plus or a minus, certainly pleasant and not as stiff as I expected, based on the comments. It was packed too.

Service: very good. Had to wait 10 mins for the table to be free, but got a free aperitif for my troubles. The guy who served us was exceptionally charming and helpful.

I liked the menu, it could have had some more starters that weren't salads, but what the heck do I know.

Before the starter, they popped out little appetisers, what seemed to be minced pork and ginger with tamarind sauce on a pineapple and mandarin base. It was astounding. The pineapple based one especially was phenomenal.

I then ordered a salad, the scallop and coconut one. The flavours were well-balanced, spicy and sweet with a generous helping of rice.

I was a bit disappointed by the rice to be honest, I could make that rice too with my boiler. I don't know what I was expecting, but it seemed a bit plain for a restaurant of this calibre. Also, my friend ordered the beef salad and it was spicy but also far too salty. Bad luck mate.

My soup came next, standard tom yum with mussels in it. It was good, don't get me wrong, but it wasn't that much better than what you can get in any decent thai restaurant. The seafood was clearly very fresh and the coriander was especially fragrant, but I was definitely expecting more from the soup, which wasn't sour enough for my tastes.

The quail red curry was very good. Nice and spicy, and I liked my friend's seabass green curry. On the other hand, I wanted it to be hotter, as we ordered based on the fact that the waiter told us they were two of their spiciest dishes. Tasty stuff anyway, but it went unfinished as the portions were massive.

Then I had the black rice pudding which was horrible, but I don't think it's their fault, it's just that I clearly ordered a kind of dessert that must be disagreeable to my tastebuds. It was glutinous and extremely salty, with almost no sweetness. It's not the first time I order this kind of dessert, and both times I had the same impression, so I can't blame them for it, it just clearly isn't for me.

So all in all a pleasant experience with good service.

But I'm used to eating in european Michelin star restaurants and I'm expecting more. I'm expecting to not know what combination of flavours is going to hit my mouth, I want to be excited adn intrigued. I got nothing unexpected (except for the amazing appetisers) and nothing inventive or unique. I got good, solid thai cuisine. But I can get that elsewhere spending less money.

By the way, those complaining about the price, 60 a head is not bad at all for a Michelin star restaurant. That's less than what I pay for one of the best chinese restaurants in the world, no Michelin star, and it's in Rome which is far cheaper than London.

All in all, good experience, maybe not quite a Michelin star experience.
View/Add comments (1)

shalom82 - View all reviews by this user
7 Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 6
Saturday, April 03, 2010

A disappointing dinner unfortunately. Didn't want the 60 quid a head where you all eat the same cos my missus and I have quite different tastes. I had Beef/Mint salad which came with fired chillies which were incredibly hot. arrived with a bowl of rice. There was far too much of it and it was overdone with nam pla (I think). Felt full after that. Then far too soon we were served up with our respective Duck & Chicken curries and a mushroom stir fry - and more rice of course. Again far too large portions. Oyster mushrooms were just a bit too wet and slimy - didn't get eaten. Curries ok, but thats as far as I would go. As an eating experience it was too rushed and just not Michelin good and £145 with half a bottle of wine. I would halve the portions and halve the price and then maybe you could fit in a dessert.

Service was friendly but don't go there expecting wonders.
Comment on this reader review

Pete
5 Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 3
Saturday, February 27, 2010

The local Thai is a must when visiting my boyfriend overseas, so when on my turf for a celebratory meal, Nahm was my obvious selection. After reading the reviews on this website I made the reservation with some trepidation, so felt compelled to write a review to allay anybody else’s fears after what could only be described as a very pleasant experience.

I thoroughly enjoyed our meal last night; absolutely nothing disappointed. We opted for the chefs suggested menu which comprised of a lovely mix of fragrant, tasty and well balanced dishes (selecting your preferred spice rating at order). A favourite white wine was the perfect accompaniment (Oyster Bay, SB) and the house champagne aperitif was the perfect kick off (Louis Roederer). Service was warm and friendly, ambience was just right, and layout afforded enough privacy without feeling isolated from other diners.

Nahm is in a different league to Lek, but according to my boyfriend, doesn’t out-do his sister’s maid in Thailand. So, my man’s ultra competitive and clearly a show-off….but I guess being measured against an authentic Thai chef is as good a benchmark as any, but I'm sure that doesn't include value for money! Well done Nahm – a dinner deserving of a Michelin star (in my humble opinion).
Comment on this reader review

9 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 8
Monday, February 01, 2010

Nahm was a very big disappointment - as big as the bill we received.

The service was poor. The food was bland.

We were not impressed. Would we go back? NAW!!!
Comment on this reader review

David
1 Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 0
Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Really beautiful food and presentation. My boyfriend who is Thai was also highly complimentary of the food.

Service very attentive but not over bearing.

The only down side was the lack of atmosphere. Found the place a little bit stiff.

We were just there to try the food, and were really pleased with the experience.
Comment on this reader review

6 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 5
Thursday, August 20, 2009

We visited Nahm on a Tuesday night; it had been our list of desirable venues for a long time but somehow always got relegated to the side. Not this time!

The restaurant was quite empty and never filled up to more than half its capacity. Clientele was not homogeneous, very elegant Louboutin shoed French lady on our left, ugly baseball cap + ugly T-shirt guy further away. The room is not particularly nice but not as unwelcoming as other people say. That on the scenery. Concerning the food, amuse-bouches made us to have high expectations and one of the starters, a salad of squid and braised pork, certainly fulfilled them. Absolutely gorgeous. Unfortunately, the other starter, a mussel-based soup was little more than a (very) hot lemon juice with basil. Horrible. Mains were a John Dory green curry (excellent) and a guinea fowl red curry (very very hot). We had the bad idea of having desserts, staggeringly priced at £9.50, and, honestly, they were almost revolting. Babyfood textured coconut something. Very disappointing.

Overall, a very mixed experience. Some outstanding dishes and some rather awful ones. A bit like the Louboutins and the baseball cap mixture!!!

Service was pleasant, informative and most attentive.
Comment on this reader review

Susana - View all reviews by this user
6 Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 6
Thursday, July 30, 2009

We did the restaurant week special as it was the only way that we were going to be able to afford a restaurant of this calibre. All the food was very nice and tasty and well presented, but however I did feel a slight letdown. I had gone there expecting to get my socks knocked off and that didn't quite happen for a Michelin starred restaurant. I have eaten a lot of Thai in Sydney and found tastewise it was on a par with that.

Staff were very nice and friendly.

Glad I had the experience though and would encourage other people to try it.
Comment on this reader review

Gayle and Greg Joyce
8 Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 8
Sunday, March 29, 2009