I love Soho in Central London. Especially on warm and humid evenings, when workers can finally leave their sticky hot offices behind and grab a cool drink outside one of the many classic pubs. It’s so vibrant and energising, the sound of casual chatter drifting down the bustling streets.
There’s plenty of places that can tickle your taste buds after a few relaxing beers. However, I don’t know of a venue that has managed to perfect the art of sharing platters quite like Kasa And Kin on Poland Street, Soho.
Fitting especially well into Soho’s bright and dynamic vibes, Kasa And Kin’s exterior almost shouts out a warm welcome to you! From the popular outdoor seating to the sight of their famous Tsunami Cheesecakes and fresh breads in the window. How can you not be immediately happy at that vision on entry?
I’m also in a great mood as I’m sharing my dinner with a wonderful friend who I don’t see as often as I’d like. Kasa And Kin seems like a place we can be sociable, probably a bit too loud and fully enjoy ourselves while sharing the experience together.
The menu is crammed full of cocktails, sharing platters and a huge choice of meat, fish and vegetarian dishes. This new and exciting menu is heavily based on their signature contemporary takes on Filipino home-cooked favourites and street-food sensations.
Centred around an array of tapas-style dishes, the food is perfect for sharing. Our heads spin at the choices on offer! Eventually we narrow it down to a seafood platter, giant field mushrooms, cucumber pickle, hot chilli prawns, lemongrass chicken and – it would be rude not to…their popular fresh rice paper rolls.
It’s a bit of a feast but we just couldn’t resist and had the help of two delicious (and strong!) cocktails to wash it down. I chose the Tita’s Margarita which packed a real punch – just how I like it. The problem was it went down too easily! So, I got another! Deadly and delicious!
The food arrived very quickly (I was only one margarita down at this point!) and the sight was something to behold. Our table resembled a work of art. It was all beautifully presented, almost too good to eat. Almost.
Fresh edible flowers and flash fried noodles were cleverly used as garnish, the ingredients were incredibly fresh, and the portions were perfect for a couple sharing. It wasn’t hard to take stunning photos, the food did the work for me. I was grateful for that as I couldn’t wait to get stuck in.
Our particular favourite was the lemongrass chicken which had an explosion of flavours including ginger and lots and lots of garlic. The mushrooms were also a highlight, perfectly cooked and smothered in coconut and raita dressing. We ate everything, our plates were almost licked clean – I might have, if I’d dared to have another margarita!
We both needed to try the Tsunami cheesecakes. The staff were not going to let us leave without sampling them! And we were easy to convince as we’d heard some people popped in for just this dessert. Plus, we’d clocked them upon entry and there was no way, no matter how stuffed we felt, that we couldn’t give one each a go!
I went for the Dulce De Leche one as I’m a sucker for this flavour. My friend went for the amazing looking mango one. They were brought to our table and we nearly pounced on them immediately but our server stopped us in our tracks – something special was about to happen. He quickly whipped the packaging away and the toppings fell down the side of the pudding. Hence the Tsunami! Ah! The Tsunami bit, that makes sense now.
Wow. They were deeply decadent, rich and creamy. I was so happy I’d left just a bit of space to indulge – these cheesecakes were to die for.
I highly recommend you try Kasa And Kin next time you visit Soho, especially if you are dining with friends. It’s such a great atmosphere to share amazing food and to sink a few delicious cocktails.
Kasa And Kin also feature a customisable special Imbento Box for lunchtime treats for those on the go in the day. Or you can pop into their bakery for some fresh out the oven delights such as the Filled Pandesal Treats, quintessential famous filled Filipino bread (also available on Uber eats).
Kasa And Kin – Poland Street, Soho, London.
For bookings and more information go to www.kasaandkin.co.uk
Review by Saffron Bentley
