Located in a prominent and busy position a few steps away from the Shard, on the South Bank, Champor Champor can no longer be classified as ‘hidden’ or ‘off-the-beaten track’. Yet, once you pop in, you’ll still feel like you’ve found a hidden gem.
The restaurant, which is on the House & Garden’s bucket list of restaurants to try before you die, has won several awards, the last one being the 2016 Certificate of Excellence.That’s to say that your dining experience there will be anything but ordinary. Indeed, as the restaurant’s website promises, be prepared for a ‘total dining experience’.
The cuisine is a fusion or ‘mix and match’ (the term ‘Champor champor’ means just this in Malay) of Thai and Malay tradition, with the décor of the place bringing together an eclectic global mix. Cozy and yet sophisticated, with soft and warm light and colors, this is the perfect place for a romantic dinner a-deux or a small group. For business meetings or parties, private rooms can also be requested.
Staff is welcoming and helpful, without being intrusive. You’ll be served some complimentary appetizer before your meal (in our case, we had banana bread slices to wet our appetites), and once you place your order, it will be dealt with quite quickly. The restaurant caters for vegetarians and vegans alike, as well as people with allergies.
Among the starters we tried the ‘river prawn gratin with Gruyere, lime sauce, and wasabi potato salad’ which was a good mix of Eastern and Western tradition, with the Gruyere cheese creating an interesting contrast to the wasabi and fish. I was surprised that cheese could go so well with prawns!
Their vegan option, ‘Green papaya, crispy tofu, pomegranate somtam, and roasted cashew nuts’ was also delicious, it’s well reknown that papaya and pomegranate can enhance neutral tastes like tofu, but the freshness of the ingredients and the tofu crisped to perfection made it a succulent dish.
In the mains menu, we were surprised by the butternut squash and asparagus elements making their apperance in a lot of dishes, which was great for me, a lover of both veggies. That’s why I ordered the grilled tofu and butternut squash green curry, with steamed asparagus, and basil oil – a super light dish made powerful by the mix of spices in the curry and the basil oil, which gave a pesto aroma to the tender asparagus. The other party got the roasted monk fish and spinach & ricotta ravioloni with mango puree red curry, a very delicate dish with a pleasantly sweet aftertaste coming from the mango puree. Again, an unusual combination of Thai and Italian cusine, that left us positevely wondering at the creativity of the Malay chef of the restaurant, Adu Amran.
Given the good sized portions, we were feeling a little bit full for dessert, but the sweet tooth in us prevailed, so we opted for a light green tea and pistachio parfait, which we shared. Very nice and not overly sweet. The chocolate chilli cheesecake looked really inviting too, we’ll save it for our next visit. Which will be very soon.
| Address: 62-64 Weston St, London SE1 3QJ |
Transport: London Bridge Station |
| Phone: 020 7403 4600 |
Opening Hours: Lunch Monday-Friday from noon (last orders 2.30pm) Dinner Monday-Sunday from 6pm (last orders 10pm) |
| Email: https://www.champor-champor.com/#section-reservations-two |
Website: https://www.champor-champor.com/ |
