Reading Roars!

Thai food has exploded in popularity in the UK. Country pubs are now offering jungle curry and even the nation’s favourite snack, crisps, now come in “Thai” flavours (Walkers’ Gently Infused Lime & Thai Spices is such an example. Gently infused indeed).

I’m a big fan of Thai food myself (though I’d say that the version offered in restaurants here is somewhat milder and more limited than the real deal). On Saturday night, I suggested Reading’s Thai Corner to friends as a place to eat. We were at Reading Station, fairly close to the restaurant, and had missed our Paddington train (we were supposed to be eating at Belgo instead).

So it was Singha (pronounced Singh, without the “a”), not Satan (beer, rather than horned beast) that launched the evening. My starter was Poh Tak Soup, a “spicy mixed seafood soup flavoured with lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, fresh chilli and basil leaves”. Spicy, yes, spicier than expected, though certainly not as spicy as the molten lava I had in Bangkok. I looked forward to my main course, Nua Tra Krai, with interest. There was an extra pepper next to its name on the menu.

Nua Tra Krai was “stir-fried beef with lemongrass, fresh chill and long beans”. White sticky rice accompanied the dish. The beef was pleasant enough, but it ranked low on the spicy scale, to my disappointment. Meanwhile, my friend had repeated her order to staff. You could say the staff were Cornered.

Still hungry, I greedily ordered another starter, prawn on toast “Minced prawn mixed with garlic, pepper and coriander spread on bread triangle”. These were yum (not to be confused with Tom Yum, another Thai soup).

All in all, my meal came to £20, which would get me about a hundred breakfasts in Thailand. But this is the UK, and as far as UK Thai restaurants go, the Thai Corner wasn’t bad. My friend, whose main meal arrived later than expected, however thought otherwise.