Patara Beauchamp Place

Patara in Beauchamp Place is part of a restaurant group that includes branches in Fulham Road, Soho, Wimbledon and Mayfair. The group stretches further afield too, with branches in Switzerland, Austria, Singapore and Thailand. It was set up by a lady called Kun Patara Sila-On, who started with a place in Bangkok in 1973. The first one in the UK opened in 1990. There is also a more casual sister called Suda Thai, which is in Covent Garden. At this branch the dining room is long and narrow, the tables quite closely packed and not particularly large.

There was a short wine list with no vintages listed and some sloppiness built in. For example, the Undurraga Unoaked Chardonnay is from the Central valley in Chile, not France as claimed on the list. The wine list had 29 labels and ranged in price from £34 to £285, with a median price of £42 and an average markup to retail price of 2.7 times, very reasonable in this day and age. Sample references were Tandem Ars in Vitro Tempranillo Merlot at £35 for a bottle that you can find in the high street for £13, Chianti Classico Badia a Coltibuono at £55 compared to its retail price of £22, and Domaine Jean Goulley Chablis at £70 for a wine that will set you back £28 in the high street. For those with the means there was Dom Perignon of mysterious vintage at £285 compared to its retail price of £189 for the most recent vintage 2015. 

Tom yum goong was the classic Thai spicy and sour prawn soup that dates back centuries but whose true origins have been lost in the mists of time. This version was good, the prawns of reasonable quality and not over-cooked, the stock having a good blend of Thai spices and ingredients including kaffir lime leaves, galangal, crushed peppers, lemongrass and lime juice along with a lively kick of chilli (13/20). My som tam salad was less impressive. This spicy salad is made from shredded of raw unripe papaya, dried shrimps and peanuts and a spicy dressing involving garlic, soy, tamarind juice, palm sugar and lime. In this case there were also cherry tomatoes, the dish prettily presented on bitter leaves of radicchio. The dressing was lively enough but the papaya tasted oddly stale (11/20). 

Better was chicken Massaman curry with a garnish of beetroot. This recipe was documented as early as 1889 but was probably earlier in origin. It involves chicken, coconut, potatoes, cashews, onions and a curry paste that uses some slightly unusual (for a Thai curry) ingredients such as cumin, cardamon, cloves and nutmeg. The sauce was rich and good, though there was very little chicken relative to potato (13/20).

Prawn green curry was also good, involving shrimp paste and green chilli paste. The prawns were nicely cooked but the sauce, though enjoyable, was a little thin compared to some versions that I have eaten (just about 13/20). Bak choi was oddly lacking in much flavour, though cooked lightly enough, and did not have much in the way of sauce (12/20). Pad Thai was lacklustre. The noodles had decent texture but there was little else going on. It is rare for a Thai dish to taste bland, but this one did (11/20). Rice was fine.

The bill came to £85 per person with beer to drink and plenty of food. This is probably not far off what would be the level of bill to expect if you shared a modest bottle of wine. Service was excellent, with plenty of helpful and attentive waiters and waitresses. The meal tonight was decent enough and good in places, but patchy, and less good that it was in its heyday. This feels to me like a place where the kitchen is coasting. Nonetheless, on this Sunday night every table was taken, and I saw at least one table being turned.

Further reviews: 04th Sep 2018 | 16th Jul 2017 | 27th Mar 2015 | 12th May 2013