The Heron

4 Reviews on “The Heron”

• Alice Gee

  I’ve wanted to visit the Heron for ages but was always put off by the long trek from east London into Paddington. I was sorely disappointed tonight. They used to have a reputation for being uncompromising in catering to the Thai expat community rather than pandering to the British palate. They are under new management which has replaced the funky authentic Isaan leaning menu (Som Tam with tiny pickled crabs crushed whole, Isaan fermented sour sausage, catfish larb, fried duck tongues) with a standard Brit Pub Thai menu. All of the usual suspects such as green curry and pad thai are now available.We ordered the best we could given the limitations of the new menu. Larb gai was bland, but this was largely our own fault because we asked to have it mild. Reviewers of the old Heron warned never to ask for a dish served spicy because it would blow your head off. It wasn’t just the lack of heat that was a problem. The herbal notes of coriander, mint and basil were not pronounced and the contrasting flavors of fish sauce, lime juice and sugar just didn’t sing. I couldn’t discern the ground toasted rice which is essential to the texture of larb.We had two mains, both not served asian style for sharing but western style with a little mound of rice and salad on each plate for eating on your own. Lamb braised in caramel was very good and extremely tender. Sea bream cooked en papillotte in a banana leaf with herbs was the best dish of the night. The zingy and acidic Nam Jin Jaew sauce that accompanied it was excellent. At this point I asked for extra hot sauce which did improved the larb.We wanted to share a dessert and were disappointed that sticky rice with mango on the menu was not available. We went for the banana fritters with ice cream as the other options (sticky toffee pudding and brownie) were obviously western. Fritters were way too stodgy having been heavily battered in dessicated coconut. We ended up peeling off the batter and just eating warm banana with ice cream.I guess the Heron is still better than a lot of the standard issue Brit Pub Thai. At least they do larbs, and have some items on the menu that are neither stir fried or deep fried. However, it is not worth crossing town for. I am really sorry I waited too long before visiting this place. Dinner for 2 with a bottle of house wine excluding service was 57.

  May 13, 2017, 4:09 am

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• Chow Hound

  Who would have thought that downstairs from a pub, The Heron, that I would come across the best Thai food I have had the opportunity to experience in all of London. The ORANGE curry blew me away.

  November 9, 2015, 1:12 pm

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• Kruk.pete

  GOOD. Service a bit slow, food amazing, but never go for spicy. never.

  May 1, 2014, 1:26 am

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• Ganaman

  Ignore the poor service. The food rocks ! The best selection of authentic Thai salads anywhere in London.

  April 21, 2014, 9:13 am

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