Yum Yum

Thai
Stoke Newington

Stoke Newington is one of London’s trendiest areas right now, home to creative artistic types, artisan bakeries and achingly cool independent coffee shops. It might not be where one instantly thinks of as the location for upmarket dining, but in between the organic produce shops and hip bars are some cracking family run neighbourhood restaurants and a handful of more glitzy, glamorous restaurants that wouldn’t be out of place in the West End.

Yum Yum falls into the latter category; a Thai restaurant that looks classy and refined, decked out in dark wood with dim lighting. The steps leading up to the front door encircle a Thai fountain with pagoda, with outdoor seating in individual straw-roofed beach huts on either side. Unfortunately we only discovered Yum Yum in late September, so the al fresco dining will need to wait until next year.

We sampled some of the exquisite food, but the cocktails were the real reason we were here. Head barman Grant Jarvis has created an entirely new cocktail menu, drawing on Thai and other Eastern ingredients that have inspired him during his travels in Asia. The result is an entirely unique and very special cocktail menu that perfectly complements Thai cuisine, but which also stands alone and would be equally as enjoyable without food for a different experience.

The cocktails included the sweet Thai Silk (white and dark rum, Amaretto, almond syrup, orange and pineapple) and Yum Yum’s Famous Rum Punch, a smooth combination of five different rums; tropical juices, lime juice and sugar. Both were fruity, sweet and very drinkable, disguising the copious amounts of alcohol. Our personal favourite was the Bangkok Breakfast; a slightly bitter mix of gin, Cointreau, marmalade, orange and lemon, slightly tangy and very moreish. We concluded our tasting with the coffee rum martini; coffee flavoured rum mixed with espresso and vanilla ice cream, the perfect way to end an evening.

We also tried a number of small plates and dishes. You can find all the classic Thai dishes here, from giant tempura prawns and barbecued squid, to spicy Thai fish cakes and scallops in soy sauce, presented in half-shells. Our preferred dish was the Yum Neau, a spicy beef salad made with very tender sirloin steak and the perfect accompaniment to our cocktails. Yum Yum by name, Yum Yum by nature.

187 Stoke Newington High Street, N16 0LH

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