Review: Kolae, Borough Market

I wonder if there are two different threads of “modern Thai” in London? My favourite spot, Plaza Khao Gaeng, is full of bright, bold flavours and feels as unashamedly colourful as a Buddhist temple in Bangkok. Another favourite, Kiln, focuses on fierce often spiky flavours mixing earth and fire… more like a trip to the shadowy jungles along the banks of the Mekong? I dunno.

Anyway, if there are two vibes of modern Thai then Kolae in Borough Market belongs firmly to the fierce & earthy Kiln vibe. It’s a big place, laid out in an industrial style that’s getting so familiar it’s going to be hard to remember which modern Asian place is which soon. We sit at the bar counter and the team look after us really well.

First bite is crispy fried prawn heads with turmeric, very strongly prawn-y and munchable. There’s also some crunchy puffed rice crackers, dressed with the only bright flavours of lunch; plenty of ginger and chilli in the salty-sweet dressing.

We pick two dishes from the Kolae grill: squash and a hogget chop. The chop is full of flavour and nicely grilled, the deft touch of slicing it into bites and then reassembling them on the bone shows a lot of care (it’s a Thai place, so of course we only have forks and spoons). The squash is one of my favourite things, it’s sturdy texture has lovely charred edges from the grill and a really warm and earthy sauce slathered over it. A sauce that I can’t even begin to work out the makings of, sorry. Good though.

I like the sour mango salad, particularly the generous scattering of tiny fried dried fish. It’s good but, again, more complex and earthy than the bright zip of a “typical” Thai salad. Our other main is a minced venison “kua kling” curry. This is a delicious portion of plump venison mince cooked in an absolutely fireball of a sauce – the first couple of mouthfuls are fine but the heat builds and builds. Undeniably good, gnarly, earthy, delicious, but very much fire.

I soothe my tastebuds with their dessert of charming green pandan sticky rice, coconut sorbet, peanuts and soft slivers of amber jackfruit. All desserts should be like this: fragrant, refreshing, delicious.

Lunch was plenty big enough for us, and about £32 each before drinks. This feels about right for what is a very good addition to the modern Asian eating options around London. We sampled a good makrut lime-led cocktail and enjoyed a couple of glasses of white wine from a really interesting list.