Please note, Nahm has now closed. Time Out Food editors, January 2019.
David Thompson’s restaurant in the ‘sanctuary of discretion’ of Belgravia’s chicest boutique hotel, the Halkin, is indeed an ‘inimitable experience’ – but the place lost its Michelin star in 2011. As chefs complain, this can depend as much on the loos as the food, and having to walk into the entrance hall, through the bar and downstairs to the toilets might seem unglamorous. The restaurant is wood-panelled and quietly stylish – if somewhat corporate – and lightened by a wall of windows overlooking a leafy garden. Service combines total professionalism with warmth.
The menu has been criticised for Thompson’s insistence on not indicating the degree of heat for each dish. This remains the case, yet staff now seem better able to inform diners. A scallop salad with asian celery, thai basil and peanut nahm jim sauce was tasty, but the shellfish lacked perfect texture. Stir-fried cuttlefish with green peppercorns and young ginger was a pleasure, though the serving seemed skimpy. To finish, a dessert of Thai wafers with golden noodle meringue, sesame seeds and glacé fruit (the only pudding without coconut) proved something of a non-event. Prices are high, which can make expectation equally high; we're not sure Nahm entirely lives up to them.