Evening Standard
Guest reviewer Melissa Thompson failed to visit Ben Chapman’s ground-breaking new-wave northern Thai restaurant when it opened 10 years ago, perhaps because she was put off by the hype and ecstatic reviews it generated from the word go.
Making up for lost time, she worked her way happily through “fatty, fragrant” sausages made from cull yaw – older ewes who end their post-lambing days eating grass and herbs in Cornish fields; laap-spiced deep-fried sardines with Sichuan pepper; and barbecue chicken, “probably my favourite of the day. Golden, then blackened in parts from the intense heat, the skin thin and delicately crisped.” Her only disappointment was the dish of claypot noodles with Tamworth belly pork and brown crab, which “feels monochrome after the bright colours of everything else”.
“Kiln deserves its hype,” she concluded. “I may be late to the party, but I’m no less enthusiastic. Here’s to the next 10 years.”
Melissa Thompson - 2026-10-25
Drinks
Extras
