Nahm

When we lived in Sydney, we learned to love David Thompson Thai restaurants (especially Sailor's Thai Canteen). So we had high hopes for Nahm. However, the atmosphere was so chilly and soul-less and the prices so astronomical, we have never gone back. Was the food good? Absolutely. But rather than eat in some hushed Michelin-starred temple of dining, we'd prefer the friendly raucousness of Sailor's Thai in Sydney.
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Bagan
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 2
Monday, February 19, 2007

Went to Nahm for lunch the other day expecting so much but was so disappointed. The green curry of chicken with thai aubergines and wild ginger was salty, stir fried prawns with asian celery with cucumber and ginger salad was bland and the kanom jin noodles with crab, prawns and chilli jam was just tasteless. The emtrees were amazing: prawn and toasted coconut on betel leaves and egg nets with caramelised coconut and chicken. Service was excellent though - perhaps dinner is a better choice.
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Shah
Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 3
Monday, December 11, 2006

David Thompson - what a disappointment. I took some clients (who insisted on trying this venue) there last night.

The decor of the place reminds me more of a food haunt in communistic eastern Europe, where style was limited to the choices available. The cold, blund atmosphere of the place was just more enhance by a rather bossy and patronising waitress - styles may vary but friendliness and listening would help.

Interestingly, in the run up to the christmas season where most restaurants are already experiencing a full drive - here, the place was empty. Nonetheless, the aperitifs took over 20 mins to be served and we felt rather hurried to make choices from the menu.

The food chosen was disaster, followed by disaster, followed by disaster...

- The Thai signature dish of Dom Tjam (Tom Yum) was reduced to the closest resemblence of dishwasherwater after a thai restaurant has washed all plates and pots for one night in it. Only sparked up by overloads of chilies to cover whatever.

- Similar applied to the braised aubergine that were a combination of chili and acids with aubergine like consistence.

- The scallops were drowned in an overspiced, greasy curry sauce and almost fully ruined by the volume of it.

- the remainders of the stareters one shall not mention, as it would add no positive detail anyway.

As for the main courses, out of 5 different, only one dish deserves to be mentioned in a good light: the Yellow Curry of red mullet and seafood.

Chilies and fat seemed to be the key ingredients - which would be fine if other flavours had the chance to shine through, but none of that was to be experienced. The acidic combination of the two combined burned through the human inside that multiple portions of real cammomile and litres of water were needed afterwards.

Note to the chef - take a trip to Thailand - even the street food bars serve more challenging and delightful food then this place has created for a party of 5.
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Lars M Goldhammer
Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Tuesday, November 14, 2006

We went to Nahm for the first time last night and had the tasting menu on the recommendation of the waitress. We could have chosen the items ourselves, but instead left it up to the staff to surprise us.

What can we say, David Thompson is a fantastic chef! All the food was absolutely amazing, each mouthful an intense taste-bomb of flavour. Among the highlights were a fried red mullet salad, pungent with tangy fish sauce, and an exquisitely savoury dish of

stir-fried venison with spices. Oh, and the oxtail soup that was very subtle and cleansed the palate between dishes. You would need a hearty appetite to finish all the dishes though, and we couldn't do justice to the southern-thai chicken curry.

The service was just right for the atmosphere and food - slick and attentive, whilst also being relaxed and friendly. We tried the Trimbach Gewurztraminer 2002, on the recommendation of the very knowledgable sommelier, and it was just perfect.

The point of Nahm is not to have a "posher" version of the tame green chicken curry you find in every faux-Thai eatery in the UK, but to experience a different sort of thai cuisine. We'll definitely go back.
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Richard & Sharon
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Sunday, August 06, 2006

Thoguht it was great. As expected- not your usual bland English Thai, the food packs a punch which may not be to everyone's taste but as an avid Sydney Thai food fan I loved it. You can also ask for less hot/chilli dishes if thats what you like- staff very helpful in chosing food to suit your taste.

Monkfish green curry pretty hot but delicious.

Not cheap but very good.
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Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 7
Thursday, June 29, 2006

As far as culinary disasters go, I have not had so many appear on my dining table in the same meal as I have had on my one and only visit this restaurant. I am an australian in UK and I have been to one of David Thompson's earlier restaurants in Sydney (Australia) called Sailors Thai 10 yrs ago and I vowed never to return there again. I thought this might have been a better restaurant for the one michelin star it has gained, but i was sadly mistaken.

I have recently been watching the Masterchef series on BBC and was very inspired with the way the presenters described tastes, textures and quality of the food. Armed with this inspiration I went to Nahm to discover.

My friend and I had the traditional thai meal menu in which we had to select five dishes to go with the starter.

The starter was appaling; the crab and chicken wrapped in egg netshad no crab or chicken flavour, but instead very very sweet syrupy coconut concoction. The mains that followed; the deep fried fish we had was overfried and bony with a very intense sweet syrupy sauce, the zander fish was very very salty, the fish with belly pork had a disgusting after taste and the foie gras couldnt not have been thai (it was tasteless). The chicken, squid and prawn ruam mit soup had one overcooked prawn in it and a few strands of chicken.

Then to finish off i had the jackfruit pudding; which was a fairly ordinary pudding with jackfruit stuck in it served with pasty custards with not jackfruit flavour.

I didnt try the wine list, so I would not be able to comment on that.

The service was very good and the setting was very good.

May be I had not picked the great dishes that other people are raving about, but if i cant find a single great dish in the 7 I have had at this meal then the odds are slim that the other dishes on the menu will be worth the trip.
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E Chan
Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 2
Sunday, March 26, 2006

Visited this restaurant last night. Food was excellect but it all came at once which was a bit overwhelming so we think the presentation could have been better. Atmosphere good but waitors difficult to understand and seemed a little agressive at times. We didn't ask for more water but were charged for 3 bottles. Coffee expensive. They included service of £30 which we thought was a bit stiff. We said we'd pay £120 each as tip voluntary. They didn't comply and then argued about it so it didn't leave a very good impression. We didn't want to argue Certainly wouldn't recommend as value for money. Enjoyed the food.
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Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 2
Friday, March 17, 2006

My partner and I are huge fans of Thai cooking and chose to celebrate our anniversary by visiting Nahm for the first time. What a disappointment. The hors d'oeuvres were wonderful but it was rapidly downhill from there. One of the things that makes Thai food so enjoyable is the balance of flavours in every dish, but almost everything at Nahm was overwhelmingly hot, and the monkfish tasted like somebody had simply dropped a shaker of paprika in it and sent it to our table. The staff were friendly enough and although the decor lacked character, it wasn't offensive either. We were truly surprised by the poor standard of the food and can't understand why this restaurant has a Michelin star; it seemed well below that standard to us. Like others here, I felt like I would have been much better off at my local Thai restaurant, where the dishes have layers of salty, sweet, sour and hot flavours, few items are as heavy and creamy as almost everything we had at Nahm, and the staff are so gracious that it's worth going just to be served by them. To top it all off, I looked at my bank statement the next week and discovered they'd me charged double what was on the bill! To their credit, they quickly refunded my card after I called them but the whole experience left a bad taste in my mouth. What a pity- it was our first anniversary. Next year, we'll read the reviews BEFORE choosing the restaurant.
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Rishi
Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 4
Friday, February 10, 2006

David Thompson is an absolute genius! Having eaten at his Darley Street Thai restaurant while living in Sydney, I arrived at Nahm expecting something very special ... and it did not disappoint. Other reviewers here have already used the word "sublime" and no other word will do. It was simply so good that I'm now scared to go back - because no matter how high the quality, nothing is ever quite so good second time round. Expensive yes, but worth it for a blast. As for the desserts, I defy you to try the Jackfruit Custard and remain indifferent... Clearly some reviewers on this site didn't quite "get" Nahm ... they should stay in KFC where they belong. ("Too much coconut" for goodness sake! ... it's like something from the Catherine Tate Show!)
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Mark McKenzie
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Thursday, February 02, 2006

Masterful interpretations of Thai cuisine. Unusual combinations of ingredients that dazzle the taste buds and whet the appetite for more. Deserved of its Michelin star. The friendliest staff I have ever encountered. They knew exactly when to assist without being intrusive. Decor was minimalist as were the choices on the menu. It was expensive but these latter considerations are immaterial when the overall experience is this good.
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Anton Stanbrook
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Sunday, December 04, 2005