Really looking forward to this authentic thai street food experience, passed by the day before…read moreafter we had already eaten and on our way back to our hotel, seeing all the steaming dishes from the window, decided for our last night in Nottingham, we needed to come here. It was also located right round the corner to our hotel!
On walking in, feels like you are entering into a little bit of Thailand. The welcome was friendly, with cute little Thai children, playing near the front, waving and smiling at you!
We were seated at a table near the front of the restaurant but at the back, they had seating in tuk tuks, which seems to be for larger parties, or for four diners. I also noticed a railway track going through the restaurant.
The restaurant filled up pretty quickly after we arrived after 6pm. Service seems to be hit and miss though. Took some time before our orders were taken, then when our food arrived it was lukewarm, not, as I noticed, steaming hot, like other diners were. It is probable that our dishes were prepared, but they had forgotten to bring it to our table, as our drinks took some time to arrive after reminding them twice, as they had not even arrived after the food arrived. The starter of Spicy Payaya Salad came at the same time as the mains. This was actually very spicy despite being told it was mild. I only like a hint of spice so was too much for me, but my partner like extra spicy, so great for him.
Quality wise, I would not say the food was the best I had, it was quite average, and since my Prawn Pad See Aew was cold after a few mouthfuls, it felt like eating a cold soggy mess, their was no crunch in the vegetables and the noodles were more like short pieces of pasta, and not much prawns to speak of. My partner's Pad Gra Tium Prik Thai with marinated beef, was ok too, nothing to shout about either, again this was also cold after a few mouthfuls, as I watch other diners' enjoying their food, with constant steam swirling from it. Since there were no waiters in sight for quite a long length of time, we decided to eat it anyway. If food is supposed to be served cold, like salad, then you would expect it to be cold but not if food should be served hot, so this is disappointing.
For dessert, we ordered the Khow Niew Ma Muang, sweet sticky rice and mango, topped with tapioca red bean paste, and sprinkled with seasame. Now, this was a delight, the sticky rice was so unexpectedly hot, it burnt the tongue! The mangoes was the right kind of ripe. Lovely.
Also, what they did well is the coconut water. This is really the real thing, with bits of coconut and so satisfying and refreshing, that we ordered it twice!
We were just unlucky with the service of our mains, did not come hot and fresh, or quickly, but would try them again on our next visit to Nottingham.
