Kiln: A wok that works

Creative Thai-inspired cooking from an open kitchen grill
Almost grotesquely delicious: Kiln's is so 2016, but so delicious
Fay Maschler10 December 2017

It’s OK to say “white boys cooking Thai food” when they say it about themselves. Andy Oliver at Som Saa, Seb Holmes at Farang, Ali Borer at Smoking Goat are all candidates here, but as there is room for one it will be Ben Chapman (ex-Smoking Goat) at Kiln. With experience as a designer, self-taught cook Chapman, well-travelled in Northern Thailand on the borders of Burma and Laos, brings endearing serene obsession to the charcoal-fired cooking — clay-pot, barbecue and wok — behind a long steel counter. He has said that “none of it is verbatim Thai cooking” but part of that claim is the high quality of raw ingredient and his relationships with indigenous farmers and fishermen. Fish arrives daily. Whole animals are butchered in-house. Asian herbs and vegetables are grown specially. The result is some of the most exciting cooking in London — at wholly amenable prices. Start with aged lamb and cumin skewer, then set off into the jungle.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in