Khao So-i
Win Srinavakool was working at a bank and running a travel company when his wife cooked him a bowl of khao soi at home, and the restaurant that came out of it now makes its coconut milk fresh every morning (Broadsheet, The Infatuation).
Why go
Khao soi arrived in northern Thailand with Chinese traders coming down from Yunnan, and Srinavakool's argument is that Thailand let it go: it is a very traditional dish that has largely fallen out [of popularity in] favour of trendier dishes
(Broadsheet). He worked from his wife's recipes, opened in Chiang Mai, expanded to Bangkok, and this 40-seater on Market Place is the first site outside Thailand.
It ran as a pop-up at Patara near Oxford Circus in October 2024 first, went viral by accident, and ended up serving around 400 people a day with two-hour waits. The permanent room opened on 11 November 2025 (Hot Dinners).
The room is built around an open kitchen with a grill and bar seating. Beef chuck gets torched to order in front of the counter seats. Every set comes on a wooden tray: the curry noodles, a side of house-made coconut milk if it is too hot for you, chilli flakes if it is too tame, lime, pickled mustard greens and a pile of deep-fried noodles to break over the top. Por Haruethai Noicharoen, Srinavakool's wife and co-owner, designed the interiors across all the sites, referencing Lanna wood houses and filling the shelves with pots and vases she buys from flea markets.
Order this / avoid
- Order: the khao soi, and take the beef shin, which is the bowl Xavier Bramble singles out (CN Traveller). The set that pairs soft beef shank with blowtorched chuck is the one Jake Missing rates highest (The Infatuation). Moo ping skewers off the grill. Larb dib if raw beef is your thing. Kaeb moo while you wait. The Mae Ping Bloody Mary is built with oyster sauce in place of Worcestershire and the same chilli paste that goes into the noodles.
- Avoid: the dark corner tables, because the counter is the reason to come. And do not accept a bowl that has been standing; the whole thing lives or dies on temperature.
What locals & experts say
- Xavier Bramble, in Conde Nast Traveller's Where the Chefs Eat series, opening his five London picks with this room:
I got invited to Khao Soi when it had just opened and I just loved it from the start... The one that originally opened in Thailand has three-hour queues every day, and I can see why. It was absolutely unbelievable; I was blown away by it, and it's got a lovely, intimate setting, too. You sit right in front of the chefs, so you can see your khao soi being made.
His order:The beef shin one is the one I would suggest you go for.
3 - Jake Missing, The Infatuation, 29 December 2025, rated 7.9, on the counter and on the flaw in the same breath:
Those who sit around Khao-So-i's kitchen counter are treated to a constant flaming show as beef chuck is routinely torched and sunset orange bowls of broth are carefully ladled.
And:The temperature of the curry can vary depending on the chaos of the restaurant and how long it takes to get to you, but the toppings, be it wobbling chicken thigh or flaky beef shank, are very good.
His verdict:Even though the results can be inconsistent and the high-paced energy leans frantic, Khao-So-i is an easy suggestion for a Wednesday night that needs some excitement.
2 - Win Srinavakool, to Broadsheet's Angela Hui, on what he is trying to do here:
Our main ethos is, 'How do we bring Thailand to London?' It's difficult when you go international and have to import a lot of Thai ingredients, but I want people to feel like they're in Chiang Mai... This restaurant represents my home, my heart and my soul. I don't want to compromise on spice or flavour.
1
Good to know
- Where: 9-10 Market Place, W1W 8AQ, a corner from Oxford Circus. The unit was an El&n Cafe before this.
- Timing: Monday to Wednesday midday to 2.30pm and 5.30 to 10.30pm, Thursday to Saturday straight through midday to 10.30pm, Sunday midday to 4pm only.
- Booking: tables are booked on the venue's own site. Counter seats are the ones to ask for.
- Price: unresolved, and worth knowing before you go. Listings band it $$ and The Infatuation bands it $$$$. No menu price was verified for this entry.
- Diet: the menu carries tofu and a young jackfruit salad, but the venue publishes no dietary statement, so ask rather than assume.
- Drinks: pandan Margaritas, the Mae Ping Bloody Mary, and rice wines distilled in Chiang Mai for the restaurant.
- Hygiene: Food Standards Agency rating 5, inspected 26 November 2025, Westminster, FHRSID 1834579, registered as Khaosoi London. Fifteen days after opening.6
- Who runs it: Win Srinavakool and Por Haruethai Noicharoen, owner-operators, with sites in Chiang Mai and Bangkok. This is the only one outside Thailand.
Verdict
should-visit — Worth the detour for one bowl, and sit at the counter for it. Khao soi came down from Yunnan with Chinese traders centuries ago and settled in the Lanna north, and Win Srinavakool's whole case is that Thailand stopped eating it: 'a very traditional dish that has largely fallen out of favour of trendier dishes.' He was working in a bank and running a travel company when his wife Por Haruethai Noicharoen cooked him a bowl at home, and the restaurant that came out of it now has sites in Chiang Mai and Bangkok, with this 40-seater in Fitzrovia the only one outside Thailand. The kitchen is open, with a grill and bar seating, and the coconut milk is made in-house every morning, which is the fact that separates this from every Thai menu in London carrying khao soi as a line item. Jake Missing rated it 7.9 for The Infatuation and described the counter as 'a constant flaming show as beef chuck is routinely torched'. Xavier Bramble opened his Conde Nast Traveller picks with it and named his order: the beef shin. It holds at should-visit rather than higher for a reason Missing states plainly, that the curry's temperature 'can vary depending on the chaos of the restaurant' and a chicken thigh reached his table below room temperature. Order at the counter, eat it hot, and it is one of the best single bowls in central London.