In celebration of their first birthday, som saa are kicking off festivities with a very special late night music session on Saturday 1st April. Inspired by the after-service nightlife available in cities like Bangkok and New York, owners Tom George, Andy Oliver and Mark Dobbie will be bringing back the classic dishes from their original Climpson’s Arch residency in this late night food offering with rotating DJs and a bar open until the early hours.
Once regular service has wound down, birthday celebrations will begin with resident DJs from Dalston’s Total Refreshment Centre taking to the decks and turning up the tempo. By no means background music, the Total Refreshment Centre knows how to put on a party and they will be digging through an eclectic record bag from Latin to afrobeat, to get people dancing.
In the kitchen, Andy Oliver and Mark Dobbie will be stoking up the grills, paying tribute to the classics from the arch, with their one off birthday menu including ‘Naem Si Krong Mu’; deep fried rice fermented pork ribs and other street food hits. Expect the likes of ‘Khao Kluk Kapi’; shrimp paste fried rice with sweet pork, green mango and accompaniments, fiery ‘Som Tam Kai Kem’; green papaya salad accompanied with salted duck egg and ‘Larb Muang Het’, a warm salad of grilled Asian mushrooms and Northern spices. More of the classics include their ‘Gai Yaang Op Fun’; Thai grilled chicken leg served with dipping sauce and ‘Nahm Dtok Pla Thort’; whole deep fried seabass served with roasted rice powder and isaan herbs.
Open until 3am, the som saa bar will be serving Asian brews supported by Singha beer, whilst mixing cocktails like a ‘Siam Sling’ with cherry blossom tea, byrrh quinquina, lime and wild rose petals in a vodka based cocktail, and the ‘Mandaroni’ which blends cognac, madeira, kamm & sons liqueur and mandarin-palm sugar gomme for a sweet, yet sharp edge. Plus, there will be a one off birthday cocktail designed specifically for the night, as well as ice buckets with Thai whiskey and soda – a nighttime favourite from the streets of Bangkok for additional late night fuel.
‘We wanted som saa’s first birthday to not only be a celebration of our classic dishes, but also a proper party where late night revelers aren’t restricted by doors closing early,’ says Tom George and Andy Oliver. ‘When I moved to New York, to work at Pok Pok, I was blown away by the dynamic metropolis of downtown Queens. Once dinner service had ended and the restaurant had shut we would head out into the night for a bite of quality food in a lively atmosphere, which is exactly how we want to celebrate our first birthday on Commercial Street’ adds Mark.