Soi Fire

Soi Fire, Thai charcoal cooking for after dark

Soi Fire is a Thai charcoal grill house and late night bar at 33 Bayswater Road in Kings Cross, from hospitality operators Ilia Cladakis and Tony Bao Q Doan. It takes over the old Hugo’s Pizza corner with skewers off the coals, a cocktail list built for later hours and a room designed to carry you from dinner into the small hours.

Head Chef Steven Freeman, most recently at La Riviera in Martin Place, cooks over charcoal with flavours drawn from Isaan in northeastern Thailand, so expect staples like moo ping, som tam, jaew and nam prik done with bold flavour and quality produce. The drinks keep pace, with cocktails created by Steve Davis of Tucano’s and a short run of Australian wines from Baccanalia. The room is half the fun, with black tiles, warm brass, mahogany, stained glass and Thai neon, a kranok tiger motif running through it all and a wall of handmade pulp posters that’s equal parts grindhouse and night market. The story behind it is a good one too. Cladakis and Doan once ran neighbouring venues on Victoria Street in Darlinghurst, Soi 25 and Monkey Magic, and spent years arguing over back lane bins before reconnecting at an arcade and deciding to open a venue together.