Benja on Beak Street

The guppies were a talking point for the Americans. Magnificent, squirming creatures, scaling the walls in electric blue and pillar box red plastic.

In addition, the decorations on the black slate walls of the restaurant left diners in no doubt to the focus of this Michelin-listed Thai restaurant in Soho: fish.

Of the main offerings, more than half involved seafood, whether scallops, king prawns, salmon or seabass, most averaging £15.

Fully embracing the theme, my friend was hooked by the grilled New Zealand mussels with lime and chilli dressing. The dressing was superb; freshly beaded with coriander, but the mussels themselves were just a little chewy. Ditto my Thai fish cakes with cucumber relish. The relish was perky and fresh and combined well with the fish cakes, but any potential stun factor was smothered by the slightly rubbery texture.

I wished I hadn’t scoffed when my friend ordered what I felt was a plain main – pan-fried salmon with chilli and garlic sauce topped with holy basil (£13.95), because it turned out to be delightful. The skin was crisp and glazed beautifully, the fish gently flaking with lots of good oil. My slow-cooked lamb in yellow curry with cucumber relish (£13.95) was decent enough, but the meat – though plentiful – was not as flavoursome as it could have been. Delightful blobs of sticky rice accompanied the meal – a little tiny perhaps, but all the better to savour.

The Thai tea ice cream for pudding was a cutie. For the wine, I chose a 2007 Monsoon Valley white Shiraz which was too sweet. This was rather silly of me, as I’d tried the same wine in red which had been wonderfully throaty and spicy.

The customers at Benja were reasonably wealthy tourists straying over from Carnaby Street, mainly in their 30s and 40s. While the food was of a decent standard it wasn’t anything startlingly original. However the service was very attentive and friendly and the atmosphere pleasant and quite charming.

Benja
17 Beak Street
Soho
W1F 9RW

Tel: 020 7287 0555