Papaya – Rendang Chicken (Thai Red Curry)

I’ve walked past Papaya many times whilst working in Soho and there’s always a queue so it’s safe to assume the food is good, but there is not much visibility of the menu from outside, so a fussy eater like myself wonders whether it’s worth joining the queue. Well if you do then once you’re inside you find a very simple menu stating that most dishes are the same base price if served with basic rice and there are sides like prawn & chicken toast or chicken dumplings that you can add on for a couple of quid more.

The food is all laid out in the standard metal serving pot format and everything looked very appealing with a good range of beef, chicken or tofu in green/red thai curries, non-spicy stir fry and sweet & sour.

There was a sign saying any curry can be made with prawn but that it’s a 5-10 min wait… fresh cooked prawn curry sounded nice, but trying to loiter in the small cramped space did not appeal.

Papaya doesn’t seem to have it’s own website so here are some third party links for:

• it’s location on FourSquare
• it’s menu on Zomato

Other reviews had prepared me that there is always a queue but that service is quick – and, that’s true on both fronts. It only took a couple of minutes to get through the queue to the food counter where I had just enough time to study the offerings and make my choice before ordering. I went for the Rendang Chicken although amusing it was called Rendang by the staff but was labelled on the counter and the menu as “Red Curry” – it’s the kind of place that puts things simply.

The food itself was yummy. It’s not the best Rendang I’ve ever had, but there was plenty of chicken, vegetables and sauce. A I ate my way down the container it seemed as if more and more chicken & vegetables were appearing which meant I never reached the dreaded point of only having rice left with no sauce or toppings.

As you can see I demolished the portion and was pleasantly full for the rest of the afternoon.