Food

Thai Square Welcomes Sonkran

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On Tuesday 8th April I had the pleasure of attending the first night of Thai Squares Tasting Menu launch in conjunction with Thai wine makers Monsoon Valley. The tasting menu will feature in the Trafalgar Square branch of Thai Square for a period of 3 months and kicks off Sonkran the Thai new year.

Before I discuss the food and the wine I have to talk about the price! For £39 you receive a 4 course meal with 4 hand selected Monsoon Valley wines, each consisting of 100ml per glass. Affordable and they did not once scrimp on quality.

The first course consisted of Thai Summer rolls with a chilli dipping sauce accompanied by Monsoon Valley’s Colombard. I have never been a fan of white wine, something about the sharpness and taste has never sat well with me. But on Tuesday I was converted by the smoothness of the wine and the light sweetness complimented the chilli within the dipping sauce. The feel of the first course was like a summers day. It was a perfect start to the meal. I wanted to order a whole bottle of Colombard then and there.

The second course was soft shell crab with mango salad accompanied by the Monsoon Valley Shiraz Rose. Yes another type of wine I usually dislike. But again the wine was perfection, smooth and subtle. Perfect with the tender deep fried crab and the sweetness of the mango salad. Oh the mango salad, it was amazing. Mangos can normally be quite sickly in taste, the sweetness is often over powering. But not the Thai mango, The Thai Square group import their mangos freshly from Thailand every day. The firmness of the Thai mango with its hidden sweetness make it perfect for salads and even desserts.

The third course was duck with red chilli paste and fresh coconut sauce with coconut rice. With my favourite the Monsoon Valley Shiraz. I can’t eat duck so mine was replaced with Tofu and shitake mushrooms, yum yum. Ok the food was amazing the coconut was not too pungent and was amazing with the chilli, the combination of the textures, the flavours and the look of the food was simply orgasmic. (side note: I do not use that word unless something is amazing and this was). The wine, the wine the amazing wine. I love red wine and when I mean love, I have been known to prefer it over water. I was afraid that I would dislike the red wine, as the other two wines were lighter than the French or even South African variations. But this was amazing, I have never had a red wine taste so good with my food. I was also told that the wine was perfect with the duck too. I will now always ask for the Thai wine when in a restaurant especially the Shiraz.

The final course we ate was fresh mango with sticky rice pudding, let me start here before I even tell you about the wine. The sticky rice pudding was a beautiful jasmine green colour, I cannot remembered what it was flavoured with but it was gorgeous. Sticky rice pudding can be hit and miss with me, but this was a hit. I have already explained about how I feel about the mango and with the sticky rice it was the best end to what was a great meal at Thai Square. The dessert wine was lush, can I say lush in a review? Well I just did. Normally dessert wines can be quite sickly and sweet but this was Christmas in a glass. Yup I said it Christmas in a glass! Order it,  taste it and feel exactly what I felt.

I won’t bore you with more detail all I will say is get down to Thai Square in Trafalgar Square and try the Tasting Menu. Both the Thai Square group and Monsoon Valley have handpicked some amazing meals and wine, it is something everyone has to try.

 

Check out the Thai Square Restaurant website for more details: http://thaisq.com/restaurants/trafalgar-square/

Thai Square

Covent Garden, Fulham, Hanover Square,

Islington, Masion House, Minories,

Putney Bridge, Richmond, Soho,

South Kensington, St. Albans, The Strand,

Trafalgar Square, Wig & Pen, Windsor