The Land of Smiles in Surrey

February 17, 2012 Leave a Comment

Aroy in Reigate

The last time I ate soft shell crab I was sitting on top of the Bangkok skyline at the Banyan Tree’s Vertigo Restaurant (if you ever get the chance..do it!).

This time I am sitting upstairs in a Grade II listed building in the centre of a very chilly Reigate. Hidden away down a side entrance off the High Street is this little gem of a restaurant, Thai Dining.

The moment we walked in out of the Arctic conditions we were warmly greeted by the staff. On the ground floor of Thai Dining there is a very sophisticated and chilled out bar area where you also eat off the menu should you wish to.

Upstairs in the main restaurant the tables are arranged perfectly that you are neither on top of the table next to you or so far removed that you don’t feel part of the atmosphere. The decor upstairs is warm, stylish and sleek.

The menu is quite extensive but without being overwhelming, as I said, the last time I had soft shell crab was 6,000 miles away so I plumped for that as my starter but omitting the wasabi mustard, I’m a big girl’s blouse when it comes to wasabi! I normally have Tom Kha as a starter in a Thai restaurant but every time The Bloke says “don’t have it, it won’t be as good as yours”. I blush. Then ask myself why he is after brownie points!!

Back to the menu and The Bloke chooses the sticky lemongrass marinated chicken wings. Before the starters arrive, we indulge ourselves with a basket of Thai spiced crackers, which were incredibly moreish served with three different dipping sauces…I recommend the peanut sauce.

The starters arrive on black tiles without looking pretentious. My soft shell crab was beautiful in a very light corn flour coating served with a sweet chilli jam instead of the blister inducing wasabi. However, the envy was on my part as the chicken wings arrived looking exceedingly sticky and unctuous with the wonderful scent of lemon grass and ginger wafting over #note to self to have those next time.

For the main course, The Bloke chose a dish that could easily have been a film title, Weeping Tiger. Described on the menu as chargrilled sirloin steak strips in a sweet and smoky dark sauce…intriguing. For me it was crsipy skinned duck breast on a bed of chinese leaf with a tamarind glaze and cashew nuts and pad thai vegetable noodles on the side. This time I was winner, the duck was, as it said crispy skinned, delicious with that wonderful distinctly tart but sweet & sour taste of tamarind.

I have to say that we were pretty full by this stage but of course we were offered the option of indulging further with a dessert. Now if I were to pick one off the menu it would have to be the mango & sticky rice…that has to be the most heavenly dish and believe it or not can be difficult to find in the UK even in the best Thai restaurants however, I just did not have enough room for that pleasure, though it gives me an excuse to come back purely just for that treat.

Now, I wonder if they serve it on a banana leaf?

Thai Dining is definitely on my recommend list.

(Thai Dining’s full menu is available on their website | You can also order takeaway from the main menu)

www.thaidiningsurrey.co.uk 

Filed under Foodie, Reigate, Restaurants Tagged with , , , , , ,

Little Italy or Little Reigate?

February 7, 2012 Leave a Comment

When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that’s amore…or it is?

So another chain restaurant is opening in Reigate. Yes and this time it’s Carluccio’s, well according to The Caterer today which is advertising jobs for Reigate.

Much as I love Italian food and do like the occasional visit to a Carluccio’s, it seems that there is not much diversity in cuisine on offer in the town. There is already Prezzo, ASK, Pizza Express & Strada that are Italianesque in it’s menu offerings, plus family run La Laterna, does Reigate really need another one?

Much the same with the soon to open Giggling Squid, though an independent of which I am very supportive, do we need another Thai restaurant…I would say no.

People are much more travelled now, more educated on food styles and cultures and are prepared to taste and experiment, which I feel is not reflected in our towns and high streets.

How about German, Turkish, Lebanese, African as an example and even dare I say it modern British? Yes, I know Reigate has The Dining Room which is excellent but a small independent offering would fit in nicely.

Diversity and imagination is needed in our towns.

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Thrills at Bill’s?

July 29, 2011 1 Comment

Everyone Likes a Freebie!

After a very lubricated Saturday night with two chums, experiencing the ‘oh dear, we’ve ended up in the After Dark club’ moment, a breakfast of fair substance was required the following morning.

There was a unanimous vote for Bill’s as the sun was shining and sitting opposite St. Mary’s Church in the fresh air seemed a good option.

The courtyard was exceedingly busy as would be expected. We found a table, sat down and waited for service. A very personable waiter appeared to take our drinks order, ravenous we were already primed to order our food…full English all round. We sneeked in our breakfast order by the skin of our teeth at approximately two minutes to twelve before breakfast service finished as our waiter told us.

Coffee, Earl Grey and freshly squeezed orange juice duly arrived, which was more than gratefully received. Given our ‘fragile’ state, carborific sustenance was in need urgently! After about twenty minutes and still no arrival of food the tweeters amongst us were doing what comes naturally and miraculously the waiter appeared, however it wasn’t our foodie needy tweets that had summoned the waiter but a natural apology of the tardy service and that a party of 25 had just pipped us at the post for our breakfast order. Now, call me pedantic but one would have thought that passing through our order of three breakfasts ahead of the 25 would have not resulted in our delayed service…but ho hum, it’s Sunday and go with the flow.

Ten more minutes passed and the charming front of house chap appeared at our table apologising for the delay and offered us more beverages and given our arid state that was very welcome.

Hurrah and Hussah…our breakfasts arrived albeit 25 minutes after we had ordered.

Three fully resplendent plates of eggs, bacon, tomato, mushroom etc including apparently ‘bubble & squeek’.

I am fully aware that the proprieter of Bill’s is Antipodean and therefore ‘bubble & squeek’ would not be a staple dish down under. I think that maybe the chefs need to be educated that mash with a wee, and I mean wee, bit of sauteed savoy cabbage dotted within it does not equate to what we in the UK would associate with ‘bubble & squeek’ (I feel a whole new post coming on there)!

That aside, the breakfast was cooked exceedingly well and did the medicinal job it was ordered to do.

Fully sated and now all wilting, discussed our busy schedule for the rest of the day to veg in front of the TV for the German Grand Prix. After our plates were cleared, the exceedingly personable front of house chap effortlessly navigated his way to our table…”so sorry for the delay guys, I hope you enjoyed your breakfast. For the record the bill is squared away”.

We were more than happy to pay for our fayre, it was good, the staff were excellent, the only downfall was the tardiness of the arrival of our breakfast, but it is Sunday and we were chilling.

What a refreshing attitude to service…big brownie points to Bill’s.

Footnote:

My dining partners were @pdmckenzie and @_Andythehat

Filed under Foodie, Reading, UK, Restaurants Tagged with , , , , , ,

Côte du Reading

May 5, 2011 2 Comments

Côte du Reading

After a fabulous weekend of serious alcoholic celebration of the Royal Wedding and the Reading Beer Festival, Sunday proved to be an equally chilled day starting with a full Irish breakfast in O’Neill’s and then a wander around the wonderful waterways and landmarks of Reading in the sunshine.

After a stop off at Copa sitting in the sunshine and having a well deserved Erdinger or two we ambled along the towpath of the Kennet & Avon up towards the Oracle with a bite to eat in mind.

Wandering into The Oracle we stumbled upon Côte which has only been open for a couple of weeks replacing the hideous venue that was Brannigans. The restaurant has a very welcoming frontage and did it’s trick of enticing us in.

We were early birds so it wasn’t very busy but it did enable us to take in the surroundings and decor. Black and tans compliment the vast array of bevelled mirrors lending a very soft art deco feel giving the ground floor a very airy disposition without losing the intimacy that belies that by the carefully positioned covers. Shared sofa seating, banquettes and neatly positioned tables in alcoves and booths add to the charm and atmosphere. It is also certainly somewhere where I would feel just as comfortable dining on my own as when with company, so all you lone diners out there and travelling business folk, fear not.

We were promptly seated and asked what we’d like to drink and ordered a bottle of the house red. Always a good test as to what a restaurant is prepared to lend it’s ‘house’ name to. A complimentary bottle of Côte water arrived in an attractive Côte branded earthenware bottle.

The menu is studded with typical French dishes and enticements. We plumped for a fougasse, which can loosely be described as a French version of focaccia. It was deliciously salty with a delightfully balanced garlicky undercurrent. As well as the fougasse we had the pissaladière flat bread with a covering of caramelised onions and chose the topping of reblochon (I love my cheese!). During our breadfest the staff were attentive but not intrusive by topping up our wine and replacing our water bottle.

Our next course was delivered, with The Chap having the ubiquitous steak & frites and me the ‘Breton’ chicken. The Chap enthused about how perfectly the steak was cooked and how the smokiness achieved from the chargrilling made each mouthful a delight and ready for the next. The Breton chicken is a beautiful corn fed, crispy skinned chargrilled half a chicken. I chose mushroom as my choice of accompanying sauce, which was rich, earthy and dispersed with a wonderful assortment of wild mushrooms…yes, The Chap couldn’t resist dunking his frites in it! The plates weren’t overloaded and the frites delivered in a cheeky little bucket.

Resting and slurping more wine, the decision of to dessert, or not to dessert, arose. The dessert menu has all the typical Gallic offerings from apple tart to crème brûlée. The Chap has a penchant for chocolate (just call him Greg Wallace) and I do like a crème brûlée, which I believe is another good benchmark. So I ‘brûlée’ and The Chap selects the chocolate mousse, only for us to be disappointed when the manager informs us that the mousse is not quite set and chef is not happy to send them out. We’re both pleasantly satisfied though that the kitchen is overseen with pride of the quality of the dishes served, hopefully on every service, so a switch to chocolate fondant is made.

Now call me picky but a cocotte is not a brûlée dish, the clue is in the title. So I was a tad disappointed when my dessert arrived. Being cooked in a cocotte meant that there was too much custard underneath making the dish rather sickly, having said that they were creamy, velvety, guilty spoonfuls of vanilla heaven. The other small critique is that the crunchy, sugary topping was too thin and lacking in the ‘crack & crunch’ satisfaction levels. The chocolate fondant was an airy, light sponge with an unctuous, oozing interior, delectably dark, sweet and slightly bitter which was off set by the happy partner of vanilla ice cream.

Has to be said that we were both suitably sated and at a very reasonable price too.

It is certainly somewhere where you can easily lose time enjoying the variety of choices from the menu or watching the world go by outside with a beer or coffee and maybe a sneaky dessert.

I for one will be going back for more.

www.cote-restaurants.co.uk

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