The team behind ‘tongue-tingling’ Thai restaurant Som Saa in Shoreditch are to open a new venture in Borough Market later this year.

Kolae, which will accommodate 80 guests on three floors of an old coach house, will focus on grilled dishes including whole fish and marinated half chickens, cooked in the style of southern Thailand.

Mark Dobbie and Andy Oliver opened Som Saa in 2016 and it was soon heralded as a competitor with Kiln in Soho for the title of best new-wave Thai in London. The 2023 Harden’s Guide hails its “intense and complex flavours” – “better than any Thai food I had in Thailand“, in the words of one diner.

The new restaurant will be the pair’s first follow-up to Som Saa. According to Andy, “The concept for Kolae has been in the works for a long time and this feels like an exciting new direction for us. It will be a celebration of some very special dishes, ingredients and techniques that excite and inspire us.”

Mark added: “Borough is an area that we’ve loved spending time in over the years, with an amazing restaurant scene, so it feels like a significant moment for us to be opening Kolae there.”