One of London’s best restaurants is opening a second location

Been struggling to get a table at Speedboat Bar in Chinatown? Well your chances of eating at one of London’s best restaurants have now doubled, as a second location for the Thai-inspired spot will be opening next month.

Set inside the Electric House in Notting Hill, Speedboat Bar 2.0 will feature the same menu as the Rupert Street original, reports Restaurant Online. Electric House is run by the Soho House Group, but this won’t be a members club affair – all will be welcome to feast on Speedboat Bar’s iconic chicken matches with green mango kerabu, and tom yam mama noodles with squid, pork and prawns.

The original Speedboat Bar opened in 2022, and has been a feature of Time Out’s 50 Best Restaurants in London ever since. A project of chef Luke Farrell – who also runs the southern Thai-leaning Plaza Khao Gaeng in the Arcade food hall by Centrepoint – the food at Speedboat Bar is inspired by dishes popular on the Yaowarat Road in Bangkok’s own Chinatown area. It’s part of the all-conquering JKS restaurant group, who are also behind the likes of Hoppers, Bao and Gymkhana. 

Our original review praised Speedboat Bar for its ‘blow-your-socks-off’ way with flavour. ‘For all of Speedboat Bar’s flashy, fabulous chaos – the real Thai racing boats strung from the ceiling, the pool table in the first-floor bar, the wobbling three-litre towers of Singha beer that are constantly being carried across the room and the 1am weekend licence – there is some seriously sophisticated cooking going on at what at first glance seems to be a simple Rupert Street party restaurant.’

These are the best restaurants in Chinatown.

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