Six months after a kitchen fire forced its abrupt closure, Som Saa has reopened on Commercial Street in Spitalfields with a renewed sense of purpose. Almost a decade since it first opened, chef-owners Andy Oliver and Mark Dobbie have used the enforced break to fine-tune the influential Thai restaurant and its menu, installing a polished new dining room, introducing its first-ever bar snacks menu and launching a specials section designed for fun, short-run, highly seasonal plates.
Dobbie says the team is approaching the comeback with gratitude and intent. “We were very lucky in the sense that nobody was hurt,” he tells Broadsheet. “Even just a few minutes of fire can cause a lot of damage, so getting back open within six months is probably on the fast side.” Nevertheless, he continues, “We’re starting to feel the buzz with staff joining us and being able to remind everybody what Som Saa is all about.”
The unexpected pause has led to a tune-up rather than a reinvention. “We didn’t want to change it so much that the restaurant isn’t the same as the one our regulars enjoy,” says Dobbie. Developed with A-nrd Studio (Canal, Fonda, Kolae), the polished new look – with new floors and seat cushions, and freshly tiled bathrooms – is more refined than the reclaimed-material aesthetic Som Saa opened with in 2016.
Som Saa’s menu will continue to lean into the big, bright regional Thai flavours it does best, while making new space for more labour-intensive, limited-run dishes using rare or fleeting ingredients like ginger flower, wild garlic and day-boat fish. Launch dishes include a glass-noodle claypot with smoked duck and garlic chives; a red curry of grilled pork, holy basil and green banana; and a salad of coconut palm heart, prawns and Thai peanuts.
New signatures such as a lemongrass salad with squid, pork and cashew nuts, and salted beef with fresh bamboo braised in coconut cream will also sit alongside cult favourites like the Isaan-style deep-fried seabass – a signature Som Saa dish close to Dobbie’s heart. “That fish represents the restaurant; having it back on the menu will make it feel like we’ve come back home.”
Meanwhile, the new bar snacks menu will feature punchy, petite plates of pickled mango with fried shrimp-paste relish, and rice crackers with grilled cockles and chilli jam, as well as old hits like crispy chicken skin with sriracha, and cashews with lime leaves and dried chillies.
To drink, the team’s been busy R&D-ing house-made kombuchas and sparkling cold-brew teas for those seeking something alcohol-free. An intriguing Green Negroni starring clarified Campari, pandan-infused gin and Cocchi Americano has been added to the cocktail list, and so has a Snowglobe Sour with bourbon, coconut cream, lime, Thai tea and cassia foam.
The wine list remains largely unchanged, continuing to balance classic and low-intervention bottles, underpinned by a dedicated riesling section, which is still the restaurant’s favourite pairing for chilli, lime and funk.
As the duo looks to the next decade, Dobbie says they’re in no rush to expand any further than Som Saa and its Borough Market sister, Kolae. “We’re really happy with where we’re at,” he says. “It’s not the easiest time to be running restaurants, but we’ve got a great team and lots of loyal customers. For now, I’m quite happy just trying to produce Thai food as honestly and as best that we can.”
Som Saa
43a Commercial Street, E1 6B
Hours:
Mon to Wed midday–2.30pm, 5.45pm–10pm
Thu to Sat midday–2.30pm, 5.45pm–10.30pm
Sun midday–3pm, 5pm–9pm
