If you’re reading this, it means you are about to attempt one of the great thankless rituals of London. Getting a table at Singburi is a task so epic that even Hercules would sack it off in favour of an afternoon spent doomscrolling with a ciggie and an Americano.
Yet despite this, it is worth persevering. For this small, family-run high street Thai canteen in deepest east London, is truly one of London’s greatest restaurants. Tables at Singburi can only be booked over the phone – or in the big, handwritten book when you’re actually inside the dining room itself – but if anyone actually answers is another matter entirely.
No dish misses, from compelling chicken gizzards to jungle curry with near-narcotic effects
But once you finally make it inside, splendour, and a beautifully relentless full-throttle flavour fest awaits. There’s a standard menu of classic Thai dishes, but nobody ever orders those. Instead, the move is to ask for everything off the blackboard listing the daily specials. Easy if there are four of you, slightly more challenging if there’s just two.
Some dishes on this menu are constants, such as the moo krob, crunchy but yielding pops of crispy pork belly hot with chilli and fragrant with holy basil. Let them cool down a bit to really get the full whack of their divine flavour and that satisfying, crackling-worthy meat. The addictive salted fish rice too, soft but crisp and heady with shallot and more lipstick-red slashes of chilli, always seems to be on offer, as do the infamous clams, a bowl brimming with glistening, button-sized bivalves swimming in herby heaven.
Dishes come as and when, and make sure to remember that salads here are often the most potent. A pretty pomelo salad looks benign enough, but is the mightiest of firecrackers, pulsing with addictive, searing heat. A crispy tilapia, mint and mango dish offers sweet respite, while fleshy nuggets of deep-fried quail come with a honeyed dipping sauce that soothes any lingering fire. No dish misses. There’s a creamy yellow curry housing a huge, cracked prawn, compelling stir-fried chicken gizzards, a fish-based jungle curry with near-narcotic effects, and – for health – some cabbage (well, it is stir fried in pork fat) and some hunky and stout chilli ribs.
Life is split into two halves. Trying to get into Singburi, and once you've been, trying to get back.
The vibe Cosy, cafe-style Thai diner with an extremely oversubscribed waiting list.
The food Thai dishes furious with heat and fragrance. Seafood is a speciality.
The drink They don’t serve booze, but it’s BYOB, so bring whatever takes your fancy. Just remember to take your bottles with you at the end.
Time Out tip Stick with it. Do not give up. Secure a table and enjoy the smugness. (And order the moo krob when you do).