Review: Champor Champor

Champor Champor in London Bridge describes itself as a mix of Thai-Malay Asian dining experience. And I would have to agree that that's the only way to describe it.

On arriving at the restaurant I could see the exterior and the diners through the window, but finding the correct door was another matter - FYI, it's just a plain black door that looks like someone's front door. It's quite a cosy and intimate restaurant - especially the opening room, it's more like someone's living room.

I was seated next to the hatch where the food comes down from the kitchen, which wasn't a particularly great seat as it was quite a tight spot in the corner, but luckily they have a cloakroom.

Even though the menu doesn't look too extensive, the ingredients in each dish are so interesting and peculiar that you would want to spend some time mulling over your choices. Pasta appears on some of the dishes too which is quite unusual.

I went for the starter of the Green papaya, crispy tofu, pomegranate somtam and cashew nuts just because I really craved some tofu. The tofu are more like croutons, and it was very spicy! Lucky that the papaya helps to cool your mouth down. My Diner Friend (DF) went for the pate and prawn crackers which was an interesting dish.

But the main courses are really where Champor Champor excels. Honestly, every dish sounded so appealing I was almost tempted to order it all (if it wasn't for the price). I went for the Roasted monk fish, spinach and ricotta ravioloni, mango puree red curry with sticky rice - and it was absolutely delicious. It was a mild curry which made up for my sizzling starter, and exactly what I needed. I do have to admit the single big ravioli type concoction in the curry was a bit strange, and found the ricotta to be too overwhelming within the curry, but it was interesting nonetheless. It didn't put me off completely. The fish was lovely though. My DF had the King prawns green curry, asparagus & butternut squash, which looked like this:

Look how big the prawns are!

At least you get your money's worth when they say King Prawns. They were huge. And the batter wasn't too heavy either which was great.

We were then too full to go for dessert.

But I have to say the curries we both had were really great and tasted fresh. It's quite pricey though. And when we visited, it was a busy night (I recommend you book in advance) and the service was not too great. We waited quite a long while for our main courses to arrive, and my DF almost had her prawn crackers fall over her lap as they slid off her plate when being served them!

All in all, the food was very good. I'm not overly keen on the cosy interior however but by the sounds of things, Champor Champor have no trouble packing in the diners so it must be a winner. I would say it was quite expensive for just a meal out, it's definitely a place where you'd go that was a bit 'special', but would definitely make a visit here again to try out all the other dishes!

RATING: 4 out of 5.