Thursday, August 6, 2009

22. Thai: Pailin Thai


Pailin Thai
20 Station Street
Lewes,
East Sussex
BN7 2DB

01273 473906

In honour of Little Will’s visit home to his dear old Mum, and hearing good things about the Thai Pailin’s lunch menu, we ventured forth on a very hot August, only-mad-dogs-and-Englishmen, day. We were greeted with the customary, excellent Thai hospitality and quickly seated. There were a few customers happily tucking into their lunches; most were eating the one-plate lunch specials. Both having hollow legs, Little Will and King Blim were really excited about the look of the food.

We were offered the regular, ordinary Lunchtime ‘Noodle Bar’ and Chef’s Special menus- giving us a vast array of dishes from which to choose. The regular menu offers dozens of Thai curries and salads, fried, noodle and seafood dishes etc… from $4.50 to £8.25. There are 14 Lunchtime Menu specials with dishes such as Rice Noodles with Red Pork priced £5.90 and Mixed Seafood in Gravy and Noodles for £7.50. The Noodle Bar menu, served Tuesday to Sunday from 12:00 to 14:30, looked yummy. There are 12 choices of rice, egg and stir-fried noodles dishes priced, a credit crunching, £5:50 to £5:90. The Chef’s special menu looked very special with dishes such as Chu Chi Ging, king prawns cooked in coconut milk and curry paste for £8.50 and Tan Tok Nue beef cooked with shallots, spring onions and coriander- reported to be very ‘authentic Thai’ for £6.90.

Little Will and I chose our favourite Tam Yen Gui Soup (pictured above left) which was refreshing, sharp, full of chicken and mushrooms and never disappoints. The deep-fried prawn in batter with a sweet and sour sauce, (pictured above right, £6.70) kept King Blim entertained. He thought it was very good and he especially liked the sauce and how it blended with the crispy batter. I congratulated myself for choosing the Nue Yang, British sirloin beef with a green chilli sauce (pictured right, £6.90) for my main course. It was truly excellent: the beef was top rate: beautifully cooked, sliced to perfect thickness and was enlivened by the tangy, hot and slightly sour green chilli sauce- for me this dish alone was worth the walk to the Pailin Thai! Little Will, fresh from his post BA travel year, was looking forward to the Panang Curry (pictured left, £6.00) served with rice and was not disappointed. He pronounced it to be very authentic and beautifully balanced: spicy, sweet and very satisfying. Pig that he is, he managed to down a dish of Phad Thai noodles too. King Blim and I did, if truth be told, help out with these (a bit) and we really enjoyed them. They were not too soft, very peanutty, sweet, tart and full of flavour and were complimented by plenty of fresh bean sprouts. The Roast Duck and Rice (pictured right, £7.50) King Blim chose for his main course was really a meal in itself and was very tasty.

We declined dessert and coffees and with large bottles of still and sparkling water, and excluding tip, our bill was £46.10. With another vegetable dish this would nave been enough for dinner, and with just sticking to the Lunchtime and Noodle Bar menus, one could have a very satisfying and delicious lunch, with coffee and another drink for less than a tenner- good value for the quality or food, service and surroundings.

Rating
Ambience: 4
Food Presentation: 3
Food Quality: 4
Service: 4
Value for money: 3

No comments: