Peckham's much-loved Thai restaurant
The Begging Bowl has a lot to answer for. Never again will we be satisfied by a bland Thai green curry or sickly pad thai for they have brought fine Thai food to London, training chefs who go on to such great things as
Smoking Goat and
Som Saa. Seb Holmes was sous chef at The Begging Bowl and then head chef at Smoking Goat. Now he's now cooking up a storm under the guise of Pestle with the help of Thom Lawson, who has worked front of house at Smoking Goat and Caravan. The food is incredible – they smash so many flavours into their curry pastes that every mouthful is as exciting as the first. We wanted to drink our leftover sauce straight from the bowl but had to make do with scooping it up with a freshly made salted turmeric butter roti. The dishes on offer change constantly, but you're not at risk; when we visited everything on it was should-we-order-another delicious. And yes, we did try everything on the menu.
Pestle is at Sacred Café in Holloway Wed-Fri evenings throughout autumn. Email info@pestlelondon.co.uk to book.