Tor

The premises here used to house a casual but very good Thai restaurant called The Thai Bistro, which gave way to the disappointing Budsara, and now to Tor. The latest iteration is named after the restaurant owner, rather than the notorious internet anonymity utility of the same name originally developed by the US military.

The dining room is small but quite smart, and the kitchen tiny, yet the restaurant offers a wide selection of Thai dishes. The classic salad som tam was good, a bit light on raw papaya but with quite a chilli kick (12/20). Fishcakes with a chilli and peanut sauce were less good, being somewhat dry (11/20). 

The main course dishes were a mixed bunch. Sea bass was fried but overcooked, and with an odd sour taste that was not particularly pleasant (8/20). By contrast pad Thai noodles were fine, with good texture and decent prawns (12/20). A stir-fry dish of chilli prawns was distinctly tentative on the chilli but decent enough (11/20), and stir-fried bak choi was lightly cooked and came with a garlic and oyster sauce (11/20).

Service lacked the charm that I recall being characteristic of so many people in Thailand. Instead the waiters and waitress we encountered seemed uninterested and a touch brusque, though they were efficient enough. The bill came to £34 a head. Tor seems a culinary improvement on its predecessor on the same site, though the occasional smile from the waiting staff would not go amiss. It is very much a neighbourhood restaurant rather than somewhere to which you would make a special trip.