A restaurant in Ladbroke Grove with lots of tiny raw dishes on the menu, Southam Street seems to have been squarely pitched at ladies who play with their food. Spread across three floors on the less violently gentrified end of Golborne Road, the dining room sports lots of glimmering marble, boutique furniture and attractive staff.
Southam Street is run by the team behind 108 Garage, a garage-conversion restaurant beloved by critics and locals alike. With this pedigree, foodie expectations are high – only sometimes are they met. An Asian salad was delicious: generously portioned full of sweet, tangy slithers of papaya. There was also an impressive-looking smoked tuna that came served beneath a glass dome. The dome was lifted – dramatically – to reveal a few pieces of fish billowing clouds of white steam. Bit of a let down, then, that the fish itself tasted a lot like burnt tea. Another disappointment was ordering expensive bar nibbles that seemed suspiciously like standard Chinese takeaway prawn crackers. So: another overpriced restaurant serving undersized food in the area. Depressing.