After years of pop-ups and a few false starts, John and Desiree Chantarasak’s progressive Thai-European restaurant concept finally went permanent at the end of 2024 with a restaurant on Marylebone’s smart Seymour Place.
AngloThai takes inspiration from Thailand but uses high-quality, seasonal UK products, with the kitchen team eschewing ingredients that most Thai restaurants would source from Asia, not least rice. The restaurant’s premise is that the complex flavours synonymous with Thai cuisine – namely salty, sweet, spicy and sour – can be obtained from ingredients found on these shores but the restaurant is more than just about creating classic Thai dishes with English produce. Instead, its food treads the line between fine dining European fare – one dish comprises Brixham crab, Exmoor caviar and a coconut ash cracker – and John’s often intricate and precise interpretation of Thai dishes that pay close attention to the nuanced flavours of the country as well as sustainability.
This ethos extends to the restaurant’s wine offer, overseen by Desiree, which focuses on growers, winemakers and importers that have been pivotal to AngloThai’s journey to date. These include wines from growers in less recognised regions, with its signature wines made in partnership with a grower in the Kamptal region of Austria.
AngloThai started out serving an a la carte menu but quickly pivoted to tasting menu only, but not at the expense of its customers, with the restaurant offering vegan, vegetarian, and pescatarian options alongside its standard menu. At the start of the year the Chantarasaks’ efforts were rewarded with a Michelin star, which was years in the making but richly deserved – and now the couple can add Opening of the Year to their list of achievements.
AngloThai takes inspiration from Thailand but uses high-quality, seasonal UK products, with the kitchen team eschewing ingredients that most Thai restaurants would source from Asia, not least rice. The restaurant’s premise is that the complex flavours synonymous with Thai cuisine – namely salty, sweet, spicy and sour – can be obtained from ingredients found on these shores but the restaurant is more than just about creating classic Thai dishes with English produce. Instead, its food treads the line between fine dining European fare – one dish comprises Brixham crab, Exmoor caviar and a coconut ash cracker – and John’s often intricate and precise interpretation of Thai dishes that pay close attention to the nuanced flavours of the country as well as sustainability.
This ethos extends to the restaurant’s wine offer, overseen by Desiree, which focuses on growers, winemakers and importers that have been pivotal to AngloThai’s journey to date. These include wines from growers in less recognised regions, with its signature wines made in partnership with a grower in the Kamptal region of Austria.
AngloThai started out serving an a la carte menu but quickly pivoted to tasting menu only, but not at the expense of its customers, with the restaurant offering vegan, vegetarian, and pescatarian options alongside its standard menu. At the start of the year the Chantarasaks’ efforts were rewarded with a Michelin star, which was years in the making but richly deserved – and now the couple can add Opening of the Year to their list of achievements.
