Happy New Year! Apologies for the lack of activity these last few months, but hopefully normal service is now resumed. To keep the blog continuously active I probably need another 'coffee review' type project for this year, so if you have any good ideas let me know. "Drink at all the pubs in Portsmouth" is probably a non-starter.
Anyhow, in the meantime there's some unfinished business from 2013 to tidy up. Constant readers will remember that I went on a business trip to Thailand last July and came back raving about the people, the food, and the atmosphere in old Bangkok, so any opportunity to visit Thai restaurants back home were soon snapped up. Besides the Kampan in Osborne Rd, the venerable Bangkok Cafe in Albert Rd (now re-branded 'Bangkok Thai Cuisine') and Lin's Thai Cafe in Elm Grove (never been there) there's a new place called the Thailand Cafe & Takeaway at the other end of Albert Rd near the new Sainsbury's, and just a hop and skip from Leafy Craneswater (tm)
We went with friends at the beginning of November - the very night they were putting up the Crimbo decorations in Albert Rd - and our anticipation levels were right up there. It's not particularly auspicious as you can see from the exterior shot, and inside it's much more cafe than restaurant, with maybe 20 covers or so. Whatever, it's small but cosy in a 'cold night, hot food, good smells' kind of way. You can also bring your own booze so it's cheap in a 'I'm drinking good wine, no corkage, bought in Majestic' kind of way.
The service was jolly, and the guy who waited on us was friendly and helpful - in fact there's a nice unforced informality about the place which suits the simple surroundings. The food was good, and although the opinion of others at our table was slightly higher than mine, my gaeng phed (red curry) was most excellent and hotter than the usual local Thai curries, being more akin to the real deal, for in Thailand everything is well off the 5 chilli scale. Pad Thai was shared out and I recall a good example of the dish, but by that time I'd drunk a few glasses of Billi Billi Shiraz so I can't properly comment. I'll tell you tales of Billi Billi and other Aussie Shiraz in an upcoming post.
What's that Skippy? You can smell something? It's a fire in the bush and there's a small child trapped in a billabong? No? Oh, you can smell old cooking oil and it's kind of putting you off your tucker. Unfortunately that was indeed the case, and might be to do with the small premises and inadequate ventilation - it was a cold night too so things were pretty steamy indoors - but it's an unfortunate memory of the evening. That aside, we'll be back - the food is good, the prices are keen and the staff friendly. I want to introduce the kids to Thai food so we'll give it another go and report back with fresher eyes.
.
Anyhow, in the meantime there's some unfinished business from 2013 to tidy up. Constant readers will remember that I went on a business trip to Thailand last July and came back raving about the people, the food, and the atmosphere in old Bangkok, so any opportunity to visit Thai restaurants back home were soon snapped up. Besides the Kampan in Osborne Rd, the venerable Bangkok Cafe in Albert Rd (now re-branded 'Bangkok Thai Cuisine') and Lin's Thai Cafe in Elm Grove (never been there) there's a new place called the Thailand Cafe & Takeaway at the other end of Albert Rd near the new Sainsbury's, and just a hop and skip from Leafy Craneswater (tm)
We went with friends at the beginning of November - the very night they were putting up the Crimbo decorations in Albert Rd - and our anticipation levels were right up there. It's not particularly auspicious as you can see from the exterior shot, and inside it's much more cafe than restaurant, with maybe 20 covers or so. Whatever, it's small but cosy in a 'cold night, hot food, good smells' kind of way. You can also bring your own booze so it's cheap in a 'I'm drinking good wine, no corkage, bought in Majestic' kind of way.
The service was jolly, and the guy who waited on us was friendly and helpful - in fact there's a nice unforced informality about the place which suits the simple surroundings. The food was good, and although the opinion of others at our table was slightly higher than mine, my gaeng phed (red curry) was most excellent and hotter than the usual local Thai curries, being more akin to the real deal, for in Thailand everything is well off the 5 chilli scale. Pad Thai was shared out and I recall a good example of the dish, but by that time I'd drunk a few glasses of Billi Billi Shiraz so I can't properly comment. I'll tell you tales of Billi Billi and other Aussie Shiraz in an upcoming post.
What's that Skippy? You can smell something? It's a fire in the bush and there's a small child trapped in a billabong? No? Oh, you can smell old cooking oil and it's kind of putting you off your tucker. Unfortunately that was indeed the case, and might be to do with the small premises and inadequate ventilation - it was a cold night too so things were pretty steamy indoors - but it's an unfortunate memory of the evening. That aside, we'll be back - the food is good, the prices are keen and the staff friendly. I want to introduce the kids to Thai food so we'll give it another go and report back with fresher eyes.
.
