Begging Bowl

Time Out says

Mon Sep 24 2012

Missing from the Begging Bowl’s colourful contemporary interior are the orchids and pictures of the Thai royal family typically on display in a neighbourhood Thai restaurant. This is less surprising once you know the owners are not Thai.

In the kitchen is Jane Alty, who trained under respected Australian chef and Thai food expert David Thompson while he was working at his Belgravia restaurant, Nahm. Alty also spent some time working in Bangkok on Thompson’s book ‘Thai Street Food’, which is the theme of the Begging Bowl’s menu.

Interestingly, two of Thailand’s most famous street food dishes – pad Thai and som tam (the spicy green papaya salad from the north-east) – are absent; instead there is a far more interesting selection of less usual stir-fries, salads, curries and grilled dishes. These feature authentic ingredients such as pea aubergines and long beans.

Our deep-fried puffed-rice cakes were served with a minced chicken, pork and peanut dip, which was laced with lemongrass and a decent glug of fish sauce. The food here may lack the lively complexity of flavour you’d expect in Thailand, but this is Peckham, and most customers will probably appreciate the kitchen using chilli in polite moderation.