Brighton’s Lucky Khao to open sister site in London’s Borough Market

Brighton restaurateur Mike Palmer is set to open his first London restaurant in Borough Market next month.

The owner of Lucky Khao is to open his new restaurant, Khao Bird, in Borough Market’s Globe Tavern, which was previously home to Adejoké Bakare’s Michelin-starred Chishuru.

Overseen by head chef Luke Larsson, the menu will focus on dishes from the northern Thai city of Chiang Mai with the aim of recreating street-food snacks and more traditional dishes. These include white corn ribs from Sussex with laab sauce and coconut relish, Chiang Mai style herb pork sausage with pickles, and slow roasted Sussex pork, peanuts, broth, wild ginger and pickled garlic.

Palmer said the new venture will allow the restaurant to explore “the unique cuisine of Chiang Mai,” with the restaurant’s name “as a nod to our love for the city’s famous BBQ chicken”.

Khao Bird will use produce with a focus on Sussex, such as working with suppliers including rewilding project Knepp Estate, as well as working with Bermondsey businesses including Kernel Beer, and Bermondsey St Honey.

Palmer’s Khao started out as series of pop-ups in Brighton, opening its first permanent site in 2018 in the city’s old post office.