Review: Thaikhun

We visited SouthGate's newest addition to their restaurant selection, Thaikhun, to sample their incredible menu. But what did we think? Read below.

As I stepped in to Thaikhun, past the tuk-tuk proudly displayed outside the front of the restaurant in the heart of SouthGate, I was met with a buzz of activity that I wasn’t expecting on a Thursday evening. The restaurant was teeming with would-be diners waiting at the bar before taking a seat at their tables. The sound of chattering and laughter made the place come alive and I was excited to be shown to our seats.

Looking around at the décor, which is piled high with curiosities, Buddhas, bicycles, posters, old televisions and vintage advertising hoardings, it felt like each item had an incredible story to tell about how it came to be in Bath. The staff that sat my wife and I down were incredibly warm and genuinely welcoming, they apologised that the restaurant was so busy, citing their unexpected popularity catching them off-guard. This admission that they might not be as accommodating as they normally are was a nice little touch for me, as I do enjoy a good bit of customer service!

Not being the most overly familiar with Thai food, coming somewhere that felt so authentic was incredibly exciting and we deliberated over the menu for an uacteristically long time before deciding on what to order. We opted for the Bangkok Street Platter, which included a Grilled Chicken Satay, Thai Prawn Toast, Pork Dumplings and Red Curried Corn Cakes. This felt like a great dish to go for to wake up our taste buds, offering a few different bite-sized appetisers. This was a tasty introduction to Thai food and we would happy to have all of them again in main course sized portions.

The starters certainly got our appetites going and we were eager for the main course, which luckily enough was whisked directly from the open kitchen to our table from the amiable waiting staff. As a lover of spice and seafood I went for the Phad Kee Mao, which as I’m sure you know is stir-fried noodles with prawns, mussels and squid tossed with chilli, garlic oyster and soy sauce. The seafood was cooked to perfection and had a really satisfying taste and texture, the heat from the chilli was balanced beautifully with the sweet and salty taste of the sauces. An added crunch could be found with the addition of some fresh veggies which was a fantastic addition.

My wife ordered the Nua Phad Kra Prao which was tender strips of beef stir-fried with fresh chilli and ‘kra pao’ or ‘holy basil’. It’s astonishing that the simplicity of the ingredients in this dish resulted in such a fantastic flavour, the beef was perfectly cooked, not too chewy, no fat in sight. We ordered a rice dish on the side as per the waiter’s suggestion, which really added to the main as a whole.

As we finished our main course we sipped our drinks and asked to see the dessert menu. I opted for the ‘Thai Bounty’ which is a warm, rich chocolate dessert with a coconut sorbet, but as soon as my wife’s pudding came to the table I was seriously jealous. The Banana Fritters with Vanilla Pod ice cream looked absolutely delicious! I insisted on trying a good portion of her dish – for research purposes of course – and the hot and cold sweetness was absolutely beautiful and the perfect way to finish our meal.

The manager offered me a taste of some Thai whiskey, which I gratefully accepted as a fan of single malts. Safe to say it was definitely an experience! Very strong stuff that needs to be tasted to be believed! Especially as Thailand isn’t necessarily a country you’d associate with whiskey production.

All in all, if you’re a fan of great food, genuinely good customer service and a setting that oozes authenticity, I couldn’t recommend SouthGate’s Thaikhun anymore. A fantastic addition to Bath’s already world-class foodie scene.