Lahpet

NOTE: Lahpet Hackney is closed, but they’ve relocated to Shoreditch… READ MORE

London has a new Burmese restaurant.

You’ll find it nestled in the railway arches of London Fields, where it rubs shoulders with the likes of Lardo and Climpson’s Arch (which is in fact where the brilliant Som Saa started off and then took for the sky…just saying). And as with those other restaurants, it also boasts a pretty beautiful venue. Ceiling-to-floor windows flood it with sunlight (approximately one day a year), illuminating the simple wooden furnishings and the dozens of verdant green plants housed in dangling hanging baskets.

It’s headed up by Dan Anton and head chef Zaw Mahesh, both of Burmese heritage. The food’s spun from a mixture of ingredients imported directly from Myanmar, as well as as well as locally supplied fish & veg. Dishes worth shouting about are the homemade shan tofu served with a tamarind dip; the tea leaf and ginger salads (both strong reminders of the joy of fresh, raw vegetables); and the hake masala, served with a lemongrass rosti, spring onion, and lime. Plus of course (you wouldn’t name your restaurant after it if it wasn’t any good) the lamb & lahphet – which are pickled tea leaves by the way – served with beans and baby carrots.

Spicy mouthfuls can be eased with a drinks list of softs, wine and beer (both local and international). Or alternatively you could just head straight for desert: lime & ginger, or coconut & banana ice-cream, as well as poached banana with coconut and jaggery crumble.

As dangerously good as it sounds.

NOTE: Laphet is closed at this site, but has now opened in Shoreditch: READ MORE

Lahpet | 5 Helmsley Place, E8 3SB