Rosa's

After a commotion about its new venue opening this 'January', and a pop-up restaurant serving a slimmed-down menu of what was to come (going by the name of Noodles), Rosa's has finally opened its second branch in the heart of Soho.

The space is even more diminutive than the shoebox caff on Hanbury Street - but the effect is one of cosiness rather than of claustrophobia. Warm pink and red tones, with soft, dim lighting lend a slightly romantic air; there are some intimate booths for dining à deux.

The original Rosa's does a fantastic som tam (green papaya salad) - all slow-burning chilli heat, sharp lime, salty fish sauce and sweet palm sugar jostling for attention in a tangle of tart green slivers of raw papaya, crunchy long green beans, squelchy cherry tomatoes and creamy cashews. Here, we lapped up the bolshy, wake-me-up flavours but were slightly let down by the plentiful addition of carrot slivers to bulk out the salad.

Tom yum soup with prawns was a little tame, though those with a more sensitive reaction to chilli heat may find it just fine. Fresh al dente prawns saved the dish, along with a good mouth-puckering sourness from galangal and a comforting lemongrass aroma.

Usually a curry at Rosa's is a bit hit-and-miss. Previous visits to the branch had us lapping up a glorious red duck curry, brimming with minerally, juicy slabs of duck; or a textbook-good green chicken curry. However sometimes they're a bit heavy on coconut milk and lacking in complexity. Sadly, our red venison curry was more of the latter.

What surprised, however, was the chef's deft hand at the grill - stick to the grilled meats along with a few side dishes and you'll walk away happy.

Tender cutlets of lamb in nestled in a (not very) spicy Thai aubergine salad were cooked à point; ditto a main course of chargrilled marinated pork neck, which came smoky and sweetly caramelised around the edges. In both cases the meat was cooked intelligently - lamb pink and blushing, the pork only just pushed over the line between pink and well-done, maintaining its sweet juiciness.

Service isn't quite on-the-ball yet; and empty glasses and plates took a while to be cleared.

Still, this is shaping up to be an agreeable option when you find yourself pining for good budget Thai and can't face the queues at nearby Busaba Eathai.