Nahm

Very disappointing indeed. I'am very familiar with high level Thai cuisine (modern or traditional royal Thai) and I can't really point out where Nahm would score. The setting and the ambiance of the restaurant is boring and not inspiring at all. It looks like they randomly placed some tables in the lobby of the hotel. Fork and knife lied directly on the wooden table that still smelled from cleaning with and old towel. The set menu was disappointing. They served all the dishes together, so half of it got cold. The presentation of the food overall is very poor. There is absolutely no love for the details or nice arrangements. There was no “rechaud” or heating plate for the plates. The taste was ok but far away of any sizzling revelation.

Even we were invited by The Halkin Hotel as redemption for the inconveniences we already suffered at the hotel, we cancelled the dinner before finishing the main course. It really seems that the spirit of its famous chef (probably he lives far away in Bangkok) left this place a long time ago. Or they just rip off people with a great hype around a well-known name. We were very disappointed. If they really have a Michelin Star you can burn these guides.

I stumbled across this excellent photo essay from inside the kitchen!

http://www.imigephotos.com/gallery_noseka_2010_london_nahm.php

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London's nahm is the first Michelin-starred Thai restaurant in Europe and rightly so.

It's here that Australian chef, David Thompson brings originality to the table with strong, fresh flavours which result in impeccable dishes that excite and pleasure the taste buds.

imigephotos is pleased to present this “behind-the-scenes” peak at life inside a Michelin star kitchen in one of Europe's finest restaurants, nahm London.
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Just wanted to share as the restaurant itself is top-class!

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.