Brightly coloured backlight signage hanging from the ceiling and vibrant “local” graphics splayed across the walls and printed on all the ephemera. Friendly, clean cut servers. A noodle-laden, pan Asian menu featuring 'best of' dishes from eight east Asian countries (Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines, Japan and Korea).
If a visit to East Street presents you with a strong sense of Wagamama or Banana Tree deja vu, well then you are quite possibly hitting the nail on the head of this restaurant's concept. And if it reminds you of the mostly up north restaurant chain, Tampopo, there's a good reason. East Street and Tampopo share the same owners. And if you think “kinda like Chilango” when you enter – yep, same designers.
All in all, there's nothing really bad to report about East Street. It's a pleasant place to eat in a convenient location with a price point in line with what you'd expect to pay. The food is squarely okay, and the menu seems to have been assembled with an aim to please all palates. You can have fun cocktails that reflect a holiday in Thailand, and the beer selection includes some especially crisp ones such as Beer Lao. But you'd be hard pressed to discover anything truly unique about this place except maybe its own reshuffled representation of some rather same old same old components.
East Street opened this week (with queues out the door during its first day of trading) at 3-5 Rathbone Place, W1T 1HJ right off Oxford Street and just above the Roxy.
Photo/Chris Osburn
Londonist visited East Street upon invitation of the restaurant.
