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In case you missed the memo, west London is cool again. Notting Hill has been leading the charge for the west with a bounty of creative and exciting new restaurants that ooze east-London vibes (with plenty of natural wine), giving what was formerly a fairly style-over-substance area some serious cachet.
Here to add a little more fun to the east-meets-west seriousness is renowned Los Angeles chef Kris Yenbamroong. Kris is best known for Night + Market in LA (and Vegas), a bold and playful take on northern Thai food that’s been acquiring cult-level fans since 2014. After a four-month pop-up over the summer at The Hoxton, Holborn, Kris's new restaurant has finally, officially crossed the pond in The Hoxton's first west London hotel. Fitting, really.
It was an especially dreary and rainy January evening when my dining companion and I turned up to dinner at Chet’s, and I'd highly recommend a visit to the cheery new American Thai restaurant as a mood buster (and effective cold curer). Chet’s isn’t an exact copy of Night + Market, but instead the diner-style menu focuses on classic American dishes combined with the fragrant flavours and textures of food from Thailand.
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When it comes to interiors, The Hoxton has definitely got its brand aesthetics nailed down, and Hoxton Shepherd's Bush certainly continues the familiar scheme, filled with mid-century furniture and plenty of plants. Chet's looks right at home here as a bougie take on retro Americana diners, with classic diner benches lining the sides of the restaurant and tables laid with 1950s style napkin holders and Chet's homemade hot sauce. We half expected waiters to whiz out of swing doors on roller skates.
The food is fun, fiery and informal. An unassuming crispy rice salad dish got things off to a brilliantly playful start on the night. It's a must-order starter in the vein of Thai Rice Krispies. Light, airy and spicy, the crunchy rice is balanced with fragrant and fresh ginger, onion, peanuts and coriander. The pineapple rice sharing plate, served in half a pineapple carcass, was also a treat which transported me right back to fond memories of travelling around northern Thailand. The other sharing plates on the menu proved popular to the tables nearby, with the 3 Flavour Whole Sea Bream, a theatrically-plated crispy whole fish, served with green beans and herb salad turning heads each time it came out of the kitchen. Another showstopper is the Firecracker Lobster Noodles which can easily feed four. From the ‘chef selection’ section of the menu we opted for the Fried Chicken Khao Soi, curried noodles with katsu-style fried chicken that were the perfect contrast of crunchy, creamy and fragrant. The pork and beef diner smash burger with chilli and coriander was another dish at the top of my must order next visit list. This is the comfort food we expect from the U.S. with the delightful flavours from Thailand at its funnest.
Cocktails follow a similar east-meets-west format, with the splashy option ‘Thaiami Vice’ served in a tongue-in-cheek full-moon-party style plastic bucket. We opted for 'Chet’s Bloody Caesar', a delightfully smoky and spicy take on the Canadian cocktail with smoked vodka, mezcal, dry sherry, ‘Chet’s Mix’, lemon, Clamato, celery, king prawn, chilli salt and olives. Dessert is also all about American and Thai comfort, with crowd pleasers on the menu like a sweet and salty coconut rice & mango and buttery, flaky apple pie.
While Chet's is definitely informal and fast, we'll both merrily make our way back to this part of SheBu to try more of their delightful diner-style food. Next up? Brunch. Chet’s Bodega Sandwich and Babka French Toast with whipped Thai-tea butter are calling my name.
chetsrestaurant.co.uk
65 Shepherd’s Bush Green, London, W12 8QE
