Name: Thaikhun

Address: Block E/F Little Southgate, Southgate, Bath

Phone Number: 01225 418435

Website: www.thaikhun.co.uk

Parking: No, nearest is the Southgate Shopping Centre car park

Disabled access: Yes

Children's menu: Yes

Our Ratings:

Food: 8.5/10

Choices: 9/10

Decor: 10/10

Customer service: 10/10

Main course prices: £8.50- £18

Tripadvisor rating: 4.5/5

SITTING amongst the new shops and restaurants in Southgate, Bath, is the quirky and welcoming Thaikhun restaurant.

Cleverly decorated with Thai street signs, Asian statues and even a Tuk-Tuk outside its front doors, Thaikhun already bursts at the seams with character before you have stepped inside. My girlfriend and I found the restaurant online and decided to try our hand at its authentic-looking take on Thai street food, neither of us were disappointed with the result.

Offering a wide selection of eastern dishes, Thaikhun has something to suit everyone’s needs. After we were greeted by a very friendly and smiley waiter we were given the option to sit anywhere (it pays to be early). Whilst some may be a bit sceptical about walking in to an empty restaurant, we were quite glad as we had a bit of privacy. This didn’t last long as the restaurant floor filled up within half an hour, obviously Thaikhun is popular with the locals.

We were offered prawn crackers to start with but opted for Thai-style pork scratchings (£3), which were a delicious and light start to the meal.

After much deliberating through the menu we decided to share the Bankok platter (£8.50 per person) which included chicken satay, prawn and pork steamed dumplings, prawn toast and curried corn cakes, to drink we ordered two large Fanta (£3 each) and both decided to have a serving of rice noodles cooked with garlic, bean sprouts and soy (£3.75 each).

We realised our eyes were a little too big for our bellies once the waiter had delivered our sharer platter. The presentation of the platter was in-keeping with the street food theme, given to us in a wooden crate. All of the different parts were cooked to perfection, with the chicken just falling off the skewer. We were provided with two ramekins of dipping sauce, one sweet chilli and the other peanut sauce, the latter I avoided.

The one thing I wasn’t a big fan of were the dumplings, I half expected a Japanese-style gyoza dumpling which are cooked a bit more after being steamed, sadly this was not the case but I cannot fault the restaurant on that at all. The noodles were also a bit overcooked I would say, sticking together as if held together by glue, and quite bland.

Out of the corner of my eye I could see one table receiving a pinto dish, three dishes served in a special stacked container which is used by workers in Thailand for their lunch. It looked fantastic and authentic and would definitely be something I would want to try myself.

Not to say that we didn’t enjoy the meal, because we both certainly did, but I feel as though I just made the wrong choice on a couple of the dishes. It is safe to say that I would return to Thaikhun just so I could sample some of the other things that feature on the menu.

As our dishes were cleared we were asked if we wanted to see a dessert menu, it would’ve been rude not to. My girlfriend decided to go for coconut and strawberry ice cream (£4.95) and even though I don’t usually eat dessert I was swayed by the Thai waffle with mango sorbet (£5.50).

The presentation of the waffle was fantastic, served on a wooden board with fresh strawberry and chocolate sauce on the top. It tasted wonderful, sweet and packed with flavour. Sometimes it pays off to push the boat out.

Overall the meal came to £41.95, which I thought was quite reasonable for two courses each, a drink each and a light snack to start with.

The food, combined with the stylish décor and easy-listening music made Thaikhun a relaxing and vibrant restaurant to visit, and I shall be going back.

PATRICK MCLEAN