Blue Elephant

This restaurant is so extravagantly verdant and over-orientalised (a waterfall, carp pools and hanging tendrils of creeping vines) that it could be a Hollywood film set. The menu follows suit: ginger lobster, according to the menu, ‘swims in a sea of vegetables, ginger and perfumed mushroom’: obtuse dish names such as Koh Samui and Chiang Mai disguise the fact that many are well-known Thai dishes. The cooking can lack the fiery, fermented authenticity of the ‘real thing’, but isn’t as ersatz as the stage-set venue suggests. Grilled aubergine salad had a smoky flavour sharpened with lime juice, fish sauce and red chilli. Artfully presented som tam featured crunchy green papaya, but needed more chilli kick. Bangkok fish, pieces of fried cod in a tamarind and chilli sauce, was also short on chilli and was too sweet for our tastes. A lamb stir-fry hit the right notes, however, spiked with a fistful of green peppercorns and tart little pea aubergines – Blue Elephant, an international chain, air-freights huge quantities of fresh ingredients from Thailand every week. Order with care to avoid the blander and more boring dishes (plus the bottled water at £4.90) and you’ll be in for some good food – and a retreat from reality.

Services

Child facilities: Babies and children welcome: colouring books; face painting (Sun); high chairs
Disabled: toilet
Dress code: smart casual; no shorts

http://www.timeout.com/london/restaurants/713.html