Located in the heart of Wimbledon, Patara is a charming local neighbourhood restaurant that offers contemporary Thai cuisine presented in a relaxed and stylish environment. And as everyone seems to be getting into the swing of all things football and Wimbledon, I was intrigued to check out their recently launched tropical tennis-themed Thai-break terrace and make most of this fine weather that we have been having.
The 50-seater outdoor terrace has been transformed into a tennis-themed paradise, filled with Thai orchids and scented tropical flowers and plants that gives you the feeling of being transported back to Asia. The staff have also been smartly dressed in Chong-Kraben (traditional hand-embroidered Thai trousers) paired with the classic tennis white aertex and trainers. For the enthusiastic tennis fans, there’s even an outdoor screen where you can watch all the Wimbledon matches from 2nd to 15th of July.
Whilst we perused the menu, we cooled ourselves down with some chilled Beerlao and wine, nibbling on the typical snack of crunchy prawn crackers dipped in sweet chilli sauce.
In addition to the usual menus, Patara Wimbledon are also currently offering some tennis-inspired dishes such as the Wimbledon Purple Dumplings (Chor Muang) that I ordered as my starter. The vibrant purple coloured handmade dumplings were definitely eye-catching, filled with caramelised chicken, peanut and finished with coconut cream. I can’t say that I’ve had many sweet-filled chicken dumplings, but I certainly enjoyed their take on it.
The fresh rice rolls were light and refreshing, filled with avocado, cucumber, coriander, carrot, mint, spring onion and basil, served with a sweet chilli sauce dip. Rice rolls are always a summer favourite snack if you’re looking for a lighter option to deep fried spring rolls.
For our mains, we tried two of their signature dishes. The coconut braised beef was really smooth and creamy, and the meat was tender just as it should be, topped off with mint, lemongrass, lime, shallot and coriander. A hearty dish that was great to be eaten with some warm sticky rice which came served in the traditional bamboo basket.
I love black cod, and so my attention was immediately drawn towards the pan seared black cod cooked with shiitake mushrooms and a shredded ginger, pickled soya and yellow bean sauce. The black cod had a rich and delicate, silky texture and went well with the sauce that had a subtle tanginess to it.
We also had some sides of tenderstem broccoli and bok choy, both served with my favourite shiitake mushrooms, to accompany our meal.
As full as we were, we couldn’t miss out on dessert. We both eyed the Khaneow Mamuang which is the traditional Thai dessert of fragrant Thai mango with sweet sticky rice and is usually one of my favourite desserts to order at Thai restaurants. The rice was neatly presented wrapped in a pandan leaf and drizzled with creamy coconut milk.
The Champions Dessert was another colourful, and well-presented tennis-inspired dish, which consisted of a mango and passion fruit ‘net’, a green tea macaron ‘racket’ and lemongrass and lime sorbet ‘tennis ball’ on a roasted rice ‘lawn’ that gave some extra texture.
The terrace will be themed until July 29th and is open all day every day from midday until 10.30pm, with a later closing time of 11pm from Thursday to Saturday. It’s a delightful and welcoming space to spend those long summer days with friends and family, whilst sharing tableside Singha beer buckets or maybe some Thai-inspired Patara Pimms.
* I was a guest at Patara Wimbledon, but all photos and views remain my own.