For more than a year, 593 High Road Leytonstone sat empty. For the 25 years before that it was home to the original iteration of Singburi, before the family-run institution closed in preparation for its move to Shoreditch. Singburi’s yellow sign – “Tasty Thailand Food” – which used to preside over queues down the street, lingered over the doorway. But now it bears the name of its newest resident: Bangkok Belly.
Tanakrit Pimpa and his wife, Supap Pimpa, are behind the restaurant – the third they’ve opened in four years. They launched Mum Likes Thai Food (MLTF) in Bethnal Green in 2021, and later opened a second branch on High Road Leytonstone – also taking over a former Thai restaurant, just 10 minutes’ walk from Bangkok Belly. In mid-January, they opened a third MLTF in Hornsey.
If taking over local institution Singburi was bold, bolder still was opening with zero fanfare beyond a balloon archway that was still being constructed as locals polished off leftover turkey sandwiches on Boxing Day.
Like its sister restaurants, Bangkok Belly signals its modern take on Thai dining through its decor – dark wood and leather seats, one wall lined with Chilean merlot. The menu brings together classics like moo ping (grilled pork skewers), papaya salad and panang curry with buckets of grilled or steamed mixed seafood, and a spicy, limey seafood hotpot that helps dust the winter cobwebs away. Unlike MLTF, there’s no pad thai or green curry: the menu veers to the south for massaman, and to Isan in the north-east, where Tanakrit’s family are from, for the fish sauce- and lime-based jaew dipping sauce that’s served with crispy pork belly.
The obvious question is: why another Leytonstone outpost? This east London enclave already has MLTF, as well as Thai food at the nearby North Star pub. “We love the community,” Tanakrit explains. “We’ve been living here more than 12 years, and we see the gap where people who love Thai cuisine can try more unique dishes.”
MLTF and, by proxy, Bangkok Belly are Covid by-products. When the pandemic hit, Tanakrit, who ran a Thai tour company, could no longer operate as the Thai government had closed the border. “We had nowhere to go,” he says. He switched to hospitality, washing up, waiting and delivering before opening the first MLTF – and four years down the line, business is good. He laughs at the mention of nerves at taking over Singburi’s feted original outpost. “If there’s an opportunity, why not?”
Bangkok Belly
593 High Road Leytonstone, E11 4PA
02035182609
Hours:
Mon to Thu midday–3.30pm, 5pm–10.30pm
Fri & Sat midday–3.30pm, 5pm–11pm
Sun midday–3pm, 5pm–10.30pm
