FRAGRANT, complex and frequently fiery, Thai cuisine is among the best in the world. Whether it’s cooked in a luxury hotel or at a cheap and cheerful street stall, its faithfully followed classic recipes deliver dishes which tingle the tastebuds and sooth the soul with an explosion of flavour.
Dining Thai-style is a sociable affair, with generous servings shared and enjoyed together. At least in Thailand it is.
It has always bemused me why so many Thai restaurants over here serve such tiny and, for the size, expensive portions. In contrast to eating out in old Siam, the puny plates of curry, bijou bowls of stir fry, and rice bowls of restricted size could not be less Thai in spirit.
Relief came with the arrival of Giggling Squid, which serves the best of Bangkok – and delights from all points north, south east and west – with authentic recipes in decent portions and at reasonable prices.
The Oxford restaurant – in Walton Street in Jericho – opened about four years ago and is one of more than 40 branches of the Anglo-Thai chain.
It’s a big old place and oddly configured, with a small ground floor leading to stairs down to a large, open dining area. It’s a lofty space but still manages to be intimate, with booths and well spaced tables.
The first obvious thing is the lack of the usual trappings of Thai joints – the temple art, fancy furniture, wooden carvings and all those pictures of classical dancers. Instead there are prints of flora and fauna... and bunches and strings of flowers – lots of them. Some are even real. A gazebo adorned with blooms is an Instagram devotee’s dream. It shouts fun.
Fresh and unstuffy, Giggling Squid (which borrows the nickname of the daughter of founders Pranee and Andy Laurillard) does not take itself too seriously. Along with the quiet couples and family groups tucking in when I visited, were a couple of high-spirited birthday parties getting stuck into the cocktail list. The vibe is cheery, witheasy going waiting staff keeping alive the endearing Thai tradition of smiling through life. I liked the place instantly.
But while the atmosphere is convivial, the food is taken seriously.
The menu is aimed at Thai aficionados but also novices. So there are the usual favourites and faithfully reproduced regional specialities, but also European dishes given a light Thai touch and ‘gateway’ plates to please the young, uninitiated or less adventurous diner.
Cheerful manager Tae at the Giggling Squid
Because Thai food is made to share, we skipped the starters and chose an array of enticing-sounding plates for us both to dip into. Being all too familiar with the diminutive dishes served up by most British Thai restaurants, we expected piddling portions and over-ordered. Dish after dish arrived, aromatic, vibrant and beautifully presented in little pans, pots and baskets. And pleasingly generous.
Big fans of Thai curry, we went for a classic red chicken (£12.95) and massaman (£13.95). They were beautifully presented with basil leaves and strips of chilli, atop well prepared dishes, tailored to Western tastes – sweeter and with the heat toned down.
Both were addictively tasty, the coconut cream lending tropical decadence. The massaman – an adaptation of a Thai Muslim dish from the deep south of the Thai isthmus – was particularly good, the creaminess enlivened by cardamom and star anise. The prawns were fat, fresh, and deftly cooked with a gentle bite. A sprinkling of cashews brought a harder crunch.
The highlight was a fabulous pot of mussels in a rich red curry sauce, revelling in the name Phuket mussels (£7.75). Fun and just a little messy to eat, the shellfish were fresh and springy and the sauce perfect – with the sweetness cut through with the unmistakable tang of kaffir lime leaf, basil and a touch of the sea. It is a fabulous dish – a perfect oriental twist on the good old moules marinière – and highly recommended.
A chicken and cashew stir fry (£12.95) was good if fairly straightforward – juicy chunks of meat and mushroom, alongside crunchy nuts and red pepper with a tingle of chilli.
Because no Thai spread is complete without it, we also had a chicken, chilli and basil gra pao (£12.95) – quickly cooked basil leaves giving fragrance and a complex, slightly anise lift to the sweet chicken and warm tickle of red chilli.
It all went well with hot sticky rice – steamed and served in a little woven bamboo basket, and rolled into little balls for dipping and scooping.
There are cocktails and wines, but it’s hard to beat Thai beer. Chang has more body but is so popular it had sold out on the night we visited, so we settled for bottles of the original Bangkok brew – Singha.
It was all very enjoyable, and the place is clearly doing great work switching novices onto the charms of Thai cuisine.
It is no traditional Thai restaurant, but the cheery atmosphere and respectable portions of fragrant delights at a decent price, are pure Thailand.
THE FACTS
- Giggling Squid, 55 Walton Street, Oxford OX2 6AE
- Book: Call 01865 557696 or go to gigglingsquid.com
- Menu: gigglingsquid.com
- Atmosphere: Bright, modern and fun; resolutely untraditional
- Food: Faithfully prepared and accessible Thai classics, some tweaked for Western tastes. An excellent place for aficionados as well as novices – and for that friend or family member with simpler tastes.
- Prices: Good value, with many fabulous starters at around £7 and most main courses at about £12-13
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