World Food Thursdays

Country No. 25: Thailand

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Venue: Smoking Goat

Date: 6.10.16

Attendees: Ben, Kim, Lee, Ellen, Becky, PK (venue chosen by Ben)

£45 per head

 

After an unfortunate hiatus caused by babies and wedding planning World Food Thursdays was back with a bang and on a Thursday no less. Six of the eight founding members of the WFT gang rocked up to Smoking Goat in glitzy Soho to tackle the chicken feast. In a first for this adventure the menu was pre-selected. There would be no opportunity for pre-starters, or a convoluted pass-the-parcel style sharing of meals, pausing to eat only when the music stopped.

 

Ushered into a back room, generally considered the best place to keep Lee, the team seated themselves and perused the cocktail menu. A now officially pregnant Kim understandably eschewed the alcoholic delights on offer but the rest of the team ploughed straight in narrowly avoiding an expensive run in with a £20, 750ml bottle of beer – you can get at least 4 bottles of wine for that. Once the drinks had arrived and the allergies had been established – a must when partaking in a set-menu experience with Kim – the charming waiting staff set down the first few platters from the menu. A bowl of chicken wings coated in the lightest, crispest batter imaginable were devoured before you could blink. The spicy pork sausage, heavy on the spice, was less well received although Ben made a good effort at eating any leftovers…he paid for his gluttony the next day. The pick of the starters was unquestionably the corn on the cob though, a riot of different flavours and extremely moreish it was lucky that there was plenty to go round.

 

Following the starters were platters of white fish covered in a modern take on a green thai curry sauce, all fragrant coriander, peanuts and green veg. This was swiftly followed by the star turn – the chicken itself. Hacked apart with a cleaver and smothered in tamarind sauce,  served with a delicious drag through dip the chicken was a crowd pleaser. So much so that the sticky rice accompaniment went almost untouched. The only snag in this culinary tale was the omission of the green mango salad. This did eventually appear however it was some time after the chicken and felt a lot like an afterthought…needless to say it was still devoured.

 

Finally each diner was presented a solitary boule of salted caramel ice cream, surely a strategic move on Smoking Goat’s part as it definitely left us wanting more.

 

Thai Facts:

No facts were presented