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Time Out Editors: in summer 2015, this restaurant moved from Chelsea to Hackney. The review below refers to the original Chelsea incarnation.
A lo-fi alternative to its sibling Kurobuta, Joe’s Oriental Diner takes the dive aesthetic and beer-friendly small plates of South-East Asian bars and sasses them up for a Chelsea audience. Behind the heavily-curtained front door lies a split-level dining room with a bar-cum-kitchen at the back, featuring plaster walls dotted with tongue-in-cheek posters. The menu mixes small and large sharing plates, including classics such as slices of chilli- and basil-heavy Thai pork sausage, or a salad of crisp Asian vegetables and tender rare beef with an assertive sweet-sour dressing. More unusual dishes include the sweet and squidgy steamed buns filled with deeply satisfying beef rendang, or a delicate, clean-flavoured dish of chilli-hot, wok-fried mushrooms. Watch out, however, for cheeky extras that would be free anywhere in Asia but bump up the bill here: a coin-sized plate of pickles costs an outrageous £3, while a couple of tablespoons of smoky chilli oil comes in at a temperature-raising £1.50. Drinks-wise, we eschewed the appealing cocktail list in favour of a ‘lady growler’ – that’s a sharing flagon of lager, rather than the kind of table service you can pay extra for in Patpong.