PAM is a Thai restaurant in Farringdon from former Kiln Head Chef Karla Knowles, co-founded with Edouard and Romain Bourrillon, the team behind Maisons Vivantes and Cocotte. Knowles’s approach is to start with Thai flavour, build it around British seasonal produce, cook much of it over live fire and finish it with European technique. The result is a menu that wanders well off the usual Thai script.
Before PAM had a permanent home, Knowles spent a summer road-testing her ideas through collaborative dinners with Dudu Eats, Dream Sake, Sera and Firangi. The restaurant now sits a short walk from Smithfield Market and the London Museum, in a fast-changing corner of Farringdon.
Plates are designed for sharing and change with the seasons, as well as with wherever Knowles has most recently travelled. Miang kham - one-bite snacks wrapped in betel leaves - arrive filled with British produce, while her take on khao soi noi draws on the Shan dish she first came across in Mae Sai, the town on Thailand’s northern border with Myanmar. Roast duck with frites and curry sauce, meanwhile, is a knowing wink at the chip-shop classic, and a good indication of the kitchen’s sense of humour.
Drinks run along the same lines, with crafted cocktails and a wine list picked to stand up to the food’s bold flavours and the energy of the room.
The dining room seats 45, and there’s a large leaning table for drinks and snacks, whether you’re settling in for the night or warming up before heading elsewhere. PAM also works as a space for culture as much as dinner, hosting quarterly art exhibitions alongside a rotating programme of collaborations and events with chefs, artists, winemakers and DJs.