Brixton Village is my new favourite place. After spending a week and a half in Brixton recently, and having ventured down here on the advice of our apartment owner, I couldn’t get enough. From Asian dumplings to Mexican tacos and Caribbean jerk chicken, there are lots of independent restaurant owners who have set up shop in this market, selling their delicious delights.
Kaosarn is the Thai restaurant in the village and we joined the queue for free tables on the Friday evening we visited. Each of the restaurants are small and compact, even with their outdoor covered seating and at weekends it’s particularly popular.
Queuing gave us chance to peruse the menu before we sat down and it was hard to choose what to eat. We decided on the deep fried pork spare ribs to start, while Scott opted for the prawn red thai curry for his entree and I went for the Bangkok-style noodle soup.
The ribs are rubbed with lemongrass and served with a hot chilli sauce. They were only small, although that’s usually to be expected as a starter, and were crispy but also chewy. I loved the flavours of the lemongrass and the chilli sauce, but felt the meat was a little over-cooked.
The prawn red curry is cooked with coconut milk, pineapple, tomatoes and basil leaves. The sauce was creamy and tangy and the tomatoes were deliciously sweet and soft. The portion size was a little small for the price, especially considering the amount of rice that came with the curry, but you couldn’t fault the taste.
My Bangkok-style noodle soup was a combination of bean sprouts, minced pork, fish balls and topped with fried king prawns, chilli and peanuts. The king prawns were probably the highlight for me; deliciously crispy, although the batter does start to go soggy in the soup if you don’t rescue them quickly. The initial flavour of the soup is tangy and one of vinegar, which quickly grows on you the more you eat of it. I found the fish balls a little rubbery, but that’s because I was comparing them to my favourites from Malaysia. Overall, it was a big portion and very filling, although once the two prawns had been eaten it lacked a little something special.
Kaosarn can’t be faulted for its service and helpful staff and we had a decent meal, although there were a few elements that could be improved. If you’re looking for a filling meal that offers great value, I’d recommend the noodle soup or, from what I could see from fellow diners, one of the fried rice dishes.
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