Tag: Thai food

Thai Square – London Trafalgar Square

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It’s been a long time since I’ve been able to go out with Miss Pinky… she was complaining that we don’t spend enough time out together… it’s not my fault my goddaughter Baby B is making you busy Miss Pinky! :p … 
Miss Pinky hasn’t been to see a musical for a verrrrry long time, and so I booked some cheap tickets to see Phantom of the Opera – that would basically be my third time watching this. Third time! And her first time seeing it. ^_^ It’s one of my favourite musicals, so anyone who wants to watch it with me… be free to ask. 😀
We looked around for food. Miss Pinky said she always wanted to go into Thai Square but always thought it might be expensive. It wasn’t too expensive. Like normal restaurant prices. Before we decided to have this we stopped into the New Zealand bar for happy hour (she didn’t like the food there, plus it reminded her of one of the dark bars in Dallas we had went to).

After making a short decision we placed our orders. I had this Aubergine and minced chicken dish. It had two chillies on the menu, so I knew it would be spicy… It was very spicy… I almost choked from the juices on my first bite of the aubergine. >_<" Hahahaha. Silly geek. I actually liked this dish, Miss Pinky thinks I can't handle spices… I can, but prefer to eat hot foods at home when no one sees me enjoying the spiciness of the food… LOL!

I also had this egg fried rice… egg fried sticky rice to be exact. It came in a bowl that had a slant to it… for some reason I found it difficult to serve myself, but all I had to do was pick up the bowl as Miss Pinky showed me… I know, sometimes I can really be the most stupidest geek ever. Hehehe.

Miss Pinky had the jungle curry… I dare not try. She said it was spicy… very spicy and I wouldn’t be able to handle it. I believed her. Maybe next time when I’m not sitting to a bunch of business peeps and tourists. >_<"" 

Total cost came to £45 including drinks (Miss Pinky had a Thai beer and I had orange juice with vodka ¬_¬”)… Not bad for the two of us in the city.
My geeky rating: 5/5
Good points:
– polite service – fairly speedy as Miss Pinky kept telling them we were going to the theatre
– Very spicy quality Thai style food
– Miss Pinky enjoyed looking at the waitresses traditional clothing… Hahahaha!
– Not too expensive comparing to all the Thai places I’ve been to
Bad points:
– The layout is just too posh for me… Not really! 

Address: Trafalgar Square, 21-24 Cockspur St, London SW1Y 5BN
Tel: 020 7839 4000

Website: http://thaisq.com/

The Elephant and Castle Pub, London Elephant & Castle (NOW CLOSED)

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Update 25/03/2015: for some reason it’s closed…

It’s been a long working week of stress this week (well the last few days)! And I think Miss Pinky has felt the strain of January stress too (more than me). So it was time to wind down yesterday and do something locally… in Elephant and Castle… ¬,¬”

After having a couple of G&Ts in Whetherspoons with Mr Picky and his work friends it was time to hit the Elephant and Castle Pub which is a couple of doors down. You can’t miss it. It looks old and grungy on the outside and I can’t say much about the inside. It’s changed ownership a few times (apparently) and now it states that it’s an Argentinian steak house… and they still serve Thai food!! OMG.
Miss Pinky and her family go to this place quite often and this is actually my second time going in there. If you pass by when sitting on a bus sometimes you might see it being quite full – that’s when there’s a game going on! Lots of oldies and students go in there too…
The Elephant and Castle Pub
Miss Pinky and I were very hungry so we ordered food. Seating is a bit awkward by the windows as the tables and couches are movable. And ladies, watch out for the men. Miss Pinky pointed out that men will walk up to you and chat you up (ok, that happened to us, thankfully the man was ok otherwise I would’ve ran away)…
So Miss Pinky ordered our food… and it did take a tiny while for it to come… Hungrrrrry!!
Miss Pinky started off with the calamari which was served with honey. Hmmm interesting. It tasted ok and the honey went well with it. I think lots of restaurants should serve fried stuff with honey.
Calamari
I had the chicken satay skewers with peanut sauce. I had it all to myself. It was great! And the peanut sauce was very tasty too!! ^_^ Love it.
Chicken satay with peanut sauce
Miss Pinky ordered this stir fried pork with vegetables and rice in oyster sauce. This is more Chinese than Thai…
Stir fried pork in oyster sauce with rice
And I had to wait a little longer for this green curry and vegetables as they cooked chicken instead of beef. It was good stuff!! A little spicy which is what I like. Courgettes were a little bitter but the sauce just made it better.
Kang kiew wan – green curry with beef and rice
Food cost around £21 (Miss Pinky paid) and I think we may have spent around £30 to £40. Prices of drinks seem to go up after 10ish but that’s ok with me (if I’m only doing one round ¬,¬”).
My geeky rating: 4.5/5
Good points:
– Cheap Thai food… better than going to a restaurat
– You’re in a pub so you can have many drinks!
– It was disco night when we went so the night music was a mixture of old and new music
Bad points:
– A little wait for the food
– Drinks go up after 10ish
– Sitting is a little awkward
Address: The Elephant and Castle Pub, 119 Newington Causeway, London SE1 6BN

Mama Thai – London Walworth Road

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Continuing from my day off work (which feels like decades ago) I went to Mama Thai on the Walworth Road. I went there a few years ago with Miss Pinky to compare with Kai’s in Kingston and I hadn’t been back since because I was too lazy to go in. I think Miss Pinky likes Kai’s, and I don’t we have found a place as good as them.
I pass this place nearly every day, and every time I pass it in the evening it looks empty from the outside, but you can’t really see the inside very well as it looks dark from the outside. On some evenings and lunch periods they do get quite a few customers, but I don’t think a lot of people eat Thai food around this area… That’s a shame. On the day I went there were only two customers. Eat Thai food people!! It’s good for colds!!
Mama Thai

From the inside it looks like a very posh restaurant. [Side note: I’m not a massive fan of eating at posh, posh restaurants that have famous chefs or owned by famous people. Food is what really matters – and it has to taste GOOD!].

Lovely decorative place

Quiet restaurant
I already knew what I wanted to eat but I had a quick check on the menu to see if there was anything different from the one online… No changes on the menu.
I ordered the prawn tom yum soup. This is a traditional Thai soup, it’s spicy, a little tangy and there was a lot in this bowl. I generally like the one in Kingston as the soup was a little thicker or darker in colour, but this was good.
Tom yum soup with prawns

Next I started on this green curry. I love green curry especially when there are aubergines and loads of sauce which there was in this dish. It had a spicy kick into it, and it was very filling with the rice. I felt very full after eating this, and very pleased with myself for coming as it has been so long!

Chicken green curry

 You might be overwhelmed with the number of spoons you get, but each dish will have one spoon with it to avoid mixing of foods I guess.

Boiled rice

I can’t remember if I have mentioned in the past but I had learnt that drinking coconut milk is the best way to cool yourself whilst eating spicy food, and that’s what I ordered – a coconut cooler. This was really nice. It was like having a coconut milkshake / pudding.

Coconut cooler
I would have ordered dessert but I was too full and needed to buy an early birthday cake at the time. ^_^
Total cost came to £19.40. It is a little pricey, but I don’t blame them as customer turnout might be low.
My geeking rating: 4.5/5
Good points:
– Quiet place to eat Thai food
– Friendly service
– Good portions of food
Bad points:
– A little pricey (but worth it if you don’t go often)

Address: 235 Walworth Rd, London SE17 1RL
Telephone: 020 7277 2734

Marie’s Cafe – London Waterloo

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At the time I was I was on leave in January (from work) when I had tonsillitis, I had went out with Miss Pinky who had time off from work to find some Thai food… This is going to be a very short post!!
I suggested this place Marie’s Cafe which is we, well Mr Picky, Miss Pinky and Master H had their breakfast before Hyper Japan last year. It was a must try for their Thai food!!
Marie’s Cafe
They have some basic lunch sets costing less than £6. Unfortunately service was really slow that afternoon. Not sure why. They probably expect a lot of people that day.
I had the chicken massan since I didn’t think my body could have handled spicy food that day. It was ok. I was actually expecting a bit more but you have to remember that this place is actually a cafe as well as a Thai restaurant. My chicken skewers were not bad.
Chicken skewers and chicken massan
I forgot what Miss Pinky had. I think it was beef mixed with vegetables. She hardly touched her chicken wings because it was practically burnt she said. Miss Pinky was not happy at all!
Miss Pinky’s food
Our meals cost £6.50 each, which is not bad. A cheap lunch set is better than nothing.
If you do end up going here I suggest the breakfasts more than the Thai food.
My geeky rating: 3/5
Good points:
– Cheap Thai food
– Breakfasts are popular
Bad points:
– Very slow service
– A bit cramped
– Not a lot of food
Address: 90 Lower Marsh, Lambeth, London SE1 7AB
Telephone: 020 7928 1050

Kaosarn Thai Restaurant – London Brixton Village

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Apparently I haven’t seen Miss Pinky for a very long time… Really? ¬,¬ I don’t think it’s been THAT long. 2 weeks isn’t long! Anyway, I think she wanted me and Mr Picky to get along after I made a moment at him after a long day at Hyper Japan. Heheheh. I already forgot about that! Let bygones be bygones…

She wanted to go to a market, and so we ended up deciding to going to Brixton. I took my mum along with me since she hasn’t been out that way for a very long time… My mum and I arrived there early. Always on time, so we walked around a bit. And Miss Pinky as usual was late with Mr Picky. 

So this time we walked around looking for food as we were all hungry… (didn’t eat breakfast again!) and we let Mr Picky decide what he wanted to eat first… He wanted a burger from Honest Burgers, but Miss Pinky wanted Thai food (and my mum also wanted Thai food)!!! Opposites attract I guess (I have a massive feeling there’s going to be a lot of this, and a lot of me blogging about it! XD).  Mr Picky went for his burger, Miss Pinky went to get some money, and my mum and I went to get a table at the Thai place, Kaosarn. My mum said to me later – doesn’t that place look like a daai paai dong 大排檔 (a large Chinese food stall where there’s a large seating inside and outside in a crowded but in a slightly not so clean area – basically not a fancy restaurant or cafe where mainly locals serve you). I must agree. Brixton Village is like that but a bit smaller compared to the ones you see in Hong Kong or in Asia.
Outside Kaosarn


Kaosarn from the side


A picture of the menu

My mum and I got a table, and we kept getting asked how many people are coming to sit at our table, I kept saying there’ll be four of us… But in the end we ordered our food and Miss Pinky’s too, I didn’t want them to keep asking us… It was kind of irritating and annoying… 


This is what we had…

I ordered this for my mum, Kuay Tiew Tom Yum Bangkok Style, which is a noodle soup with loads of ingredients in it. My mum said it tasted good, she wanted to drink all of the soup, but didn’t, and it wasn’t too spicy but spicy enough for her. It had a bit of sourness to it that she likes. BUT she said there weren’t enough noodles (ho fun)! She would have liked a bit more noodles for that type of price. Even Tai Tip Mein in Elephant and Castle serves a lot more, she said! ¬,¬”” Woah expert opinion in the house!! Hahahahahah! (I think my opinionated mind comes from her side of the family…).
Kuay Tiew Tom Yum Bangkok Style – I had those two prawns… 🙂

They accidentally gave us this… did I order this? I don’t think I did…

Did not order this!!

I asked for a recommendation for myself, something with rice and something not too spicy since it was already warm outside and I didn’t want to be hot. So the waiter recommended Massaman. I wanted the beef but unfortunately they ran out of beef, and so I had the lamb. It was good. Not spicy at all. Had a salty and sour taste to it. There was a lot of rice given in my plate, and Miss Pinky pointed out that at least they didn’t make the rice look all fancy pancy like they do in most restaurants these days! Heheh. So true! 🙂

Lamb Massaman

Finally Miss Pinky’s Pad Thai with chicken came out when she arrived. She said hers was sweet, and very, very good. She took half of it home to eat later. As always she has a small appetite. She said she liked the tofu in it more than the chicken. That’s strange for her! She doesn’t like tofu as much as I do…!!

Chicken Pad Thai

And then Mr Picky came in with his burger… I think the owners were not too happy, but Miss Pinky asked anyway if it was ok for him to eat his burger there as they were staring… ¬,¬””” Mr Picky didn’t even look shocked, surprised, embarrassed or anything of the sort. He ate his burger there. It looked so raw and he asked it for medium cooked… Yuck.

A medium-rare burger from Honest Burgers… Miss Pinky was trying it out…

Total cost came to £28.20 including 4 drinks (and not including the burger). Not bad but a tad expensive for what we had.


My geeky rating: 4/5

Good points:
– Good food but not enough for my mum and too much for Miss Pinky, and just right for me
– Seating inside and outside
– Good deal of choice, would have went for more but didn’t…

Bad points:
– Although they had a friendly service, they were a little irritating when they kept asking how many people were sitting with us (there were still tables and seats available)
– Slightly on the expensive side for the food we had

Address: Brixton Village Market, Coldharbour Lane, London SW9 8PR
Telephone: 020 7095 8922



Sino Thai Restaurant 泰華酒家 – London Waterloo

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This weekend I was supposed to meet a bunch of friends, but that got cancelled and deferred to another time… So in the end, who did I contact? Miss Pinky of course. She wanted to eat Thai food. Pad Thai to be specific, after she watched the Saturday Kitchen Show Live last weekend! ¬_¬” Yeah, whatever.

Not knowing any good Thai restaurants around, we walked around Waterloo going from The Cut to Lambeth Road. There were two pubs serving Thai food, and in between a Thai restaurant (plus there’s a smaller Thai place in between all the places that we didn’t see until we were going home). We knew all these places would serve great food, but I think Miss Pinky wanted a slightly quieter place, to enjoy the food and not be disrupted by people in the pubs… (rugby and football fans!)…

In the end, we went into Sino Thai Restaurant 泰華酒家 (Cantonese: taai wah jau ga; Mandarin: tai hua jiu jia) in Lower Marsh Street. There weren’t many customers, and it looked very quiet inside. The diners who were already inside looked like they were regular customers, or they may have stumbled into there like we did. I tried looking for some reviews today, but I’m surprised there’s hardly any blog reviews (actually none at all) about this place… Not many people into Thai food???
Outside the restaurant

Menu cover

There was a lot of choice in the menu, vegetarian, seafood, meat dishes, noodle dishes, Chinese style dishes, curries… and I really didn’t know what I wanted. In the end this is what we had…


Miss Pinky’s food. Well she had a Thai beer called Chang, and the fried squid for starters. I know her so well because she always start off with squid, chicken wings or spare ribs!
Chang Thai Beer

Fried squid served in a boat bowl – Miss Pinky was impressed!

Then of course you know what she had afterwards… The Pad Thai… Flat rice noodles with pork. It was sweet and not extremely spicy that it will knock your socks off. It was just right. It was a big portion size. Miss Pinky took the rest home because she still has a small stomach. 😀 (Cheeky Geek on the loose).

Pad Thai

My food. I first had the Tom Ka Gai. This is not a very spicy soup, because of the coconut milk added into it. Thumbs up for this. I needed this to really warm me up because it was really cold last night. Next time I think I want to try the Tom Yum soup with prawns.

Tom Ka Gai

I then had a green curry Geang Kiew Wan. You get to choose your own meat, beef, chicken or king prawns. I chose beef (but I wanted prawns) so that Miss Pinky could try. I’m sure I was supposed to have Thai aubergines in this dish, but I couldn’t see any… 😦 Disappointed… But I did like the green curry. It wasn’t too spicy because of the coconut milk in it, and it tasted sweet, the beef was tender and not overcooked.

Geang Kiew Wan and Egg Fried Rice

Close up of Geang Kiew Wan

I also had the egg fried with mine, which tasted good. It wasn’t too oily and had a lot going on in there (as in it was a nice sticky rice and good texture). I was quite pleased with the portion size. Very good indeed!

Close up of my Egg Fried Rice

I said to Miss Pinky, I want the full house, that meant I wanted dessert afterwards. Well, there isn’t much choice: banana fritter, banana dessert or vanilla ice cream. I chose the banana dessert which came in a hot coconut cream… Aww delicious. Miss Pinky tried a spoonful, and then she had the rest of it! ¬_¬” … I thought she didn’t want any dessert…

Banana Dessert

Total cost came up to £40.10 including drinks (I should have paid extra… But let’s not tell Miss Pinky that, although I did pay for some expensive drinks later in the evening).


So, if you are looking for a quiet restaurant with some soft music playing in the background, and you don’t mind people passing by the restaurant looking in, plus only having one waitress doing everything… Then this may be the place for you to go to (especially for Valentine’s Day… Unless you prefer the very high end of things).
***

The night was still young ¬_¬ …
Our night ended up in two places. Waterloo Station where we saw a lot of rugby fans coming back from Twickenham, and where there’s a new bar on the upper deck called Cabin. Very chic. Waterloo Station has changed so much since the Olympics… It’s just amazing! I love the upstairs so much!!

Rugby fans!!

Rekoderlig Cider and Monkey Shoulder whiskey with coke   (^_^)v

Waterloo Staff waiting for passengers…

Then we ended up in ScooterCaffè along Lower Marsh, which we had seen earlier when we were looking for food. They have a cat in there… It’s so cute and relaxed and it didn’t mind people taking pictures… Although the place’s toilets are quirky (I didn’t go in because I was conscious of the people looking around downstairs… Confused Geek)! It’s a very funky cafe that serves alcohol!! Another thumbs up!!

The cat at ScooterCaffe… so, so cute!! ^_^

Pacific Lager (Spanish?) and a brandy (not mine)
and my Jameson whisky  and coke!!


Ok, so my geeky rating (for the Sino Thai Restaurant): 4.9/5 (I didn’t get any aubergines in my green curry)

Good points:
– Quiet restaurant
– Polite and friendly service, although there was only one person serving
– Great authentic Thai food
– Soft music playing in the background (I think they were playing Backstreet Boys – so I didn’t mind!! ^_^)
– Spacious seating

Bad points:
– None, zilch! I can’t think of any!!! ^_^

I would definitely come here again…

Address: 127-128 Lower Marsh, London, SE1 7AE
Telephone: 020 7401 9702
Opening times: Monday-Friday – 12pm (noon)-3pm and 5.30-11pm , Saturday – 5-11pm , Sunday – 12pm (noon)-11pm


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Kai’s Thai Food – The Cocoanut, Kingston

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After all that egg hunting on Saturday Miss Pinky (who went on holiday with  me) and I went to Kingston to meet up with another friend (Mr Fly) to catch and re-celebrate my birthday… 🙂


Each time we end up in Kingston we always end up going to a pub called The Cocoanut and eating Kai’s Thai Food. The Cocoanut is situated on Mill Street, which is a side street along Fairfield S and opposite The Fairfield Recreation Ground. Originally Kai’s Thai Food was in another pub – but something happened there, and the seating area was much smaller… I think most of the customers that go there are the regulars or just live nearby.


The menu is reasonably priced, the food is made when it is ordered so you may expect a long wait. I suggest that you get there really early – probably before 7pm to get a good seat. However we got there a bit late (around 8.30pm) and didn’t get to eat our main course until after 9.30pm!

All of it is authentic Thai food, so if you order anything with 2 chillies it is mega HOT. I also suggest getting a glass of water with your food if you do decide to have that… 🙂

I can’t remember the dishes names, but enjoy the pics…

Starters for 3 people

No. 19 – My dish with duck

No. 19 – Mr Fly’s dish with chicken

Miss Pinky’s rice noodles with duck, this is a 2 chilli, but was
toned down with sugar – my friend can’t eat much spicy food 

Start eating!

A chicken, nuts and rice salad – a bit spicy and vinegary 

All three of us were so full in the end – we couldn’t move!

Total cost came up to around £55, that included some of our drinks. Each dish depends on the type of meat you ask for.

My geeky rating: 4.5/5 (lost a 0.5 mark because of the wait, otherwise I would’ve given full marks!)

Good points:
If you LOVE Thai food, I recommend this place! 
I also recommend the Tom Yum soup.
You get a choice of meat with the main course – duck, chicken, pork, beef and even prawns…

Bad points:
The wait when you’re really hungry! 

Address: The Cocoanut, Kingston Upon Thames, Surrey, KT1 2RF 
Tel: 0208 546 3978