I'v been going to this seen it was southbury pub and it's always been good crowd and service is always amazing the Thai place is always been good.

By Esin Huseyin
Having returned from a trip to Thailand a couple of months ago I have since found myself in a bit of a Thai food whirlwind, other than when I’m not eating burgers. But, it’s never really matched up to it, although Busaba was probably the only place that got quite close, until now.

Not only have I found a match, but it’s also right on my bluddy doorstep – I can’t tell if that’s a good or a bad thing mind you.

I was meeting a friend of mine who I hadn’t seen in absolutely ages, and we were tossing up several restaurant choices until we decided to go to our local Thai – The Meeting. I have to be honest, many moons ago this restaurant was located in the side annex of a pub, and it didn’t really wow me. Now it’s taken over most of the pub and has generally established a bit of a following.

We went mid-week and when we popped our heads in to the restaurant it was absolutely heaving, and more people kept turning up. It was decorated with dark wood and red, the usual Thai scent in the air, and a host of staff who were super friendly and attentive who even greeted us by bowing and speaking Thai.

As soon as we sat down we were given the huge menus as well as an assortment of prawn crackers and spicy sauce, and left to loiter over the choices. It’s genuinely quite a large, yet organised, menu that it’s organised by numbers – similar to that of your local Chinese take away.

About 10 hours later after our mini catch-up, we were ready to decide on the mains. This is what I went with in the end:

Kai Kratiam: Stir fried chicken with garlic and pepper

Kao Niew: Sticky rice

Both of these dishes actually came to under £10, and it was a whoppin’ portion which I couldn’t even finish. But seriously, they just smelt so good – sometimes restaurants can smell a bit odd because of the different smells of flavours that blend together. Admittedly, considering the big flavours that are in Thai food, including the huge amount of garlic they use, it smelt amazing in there.

Our plates were decorated with huge ornate flowers, and the little details really counted. I noticed that my dish was really saucy, which is great when you’ve got sticky rice, as I feel you need a little more oomph in there. I genuinely think the chicken to veg ration was a little tipped towards poultry, which is a great thing, but each spoonful was just overpowered by chicken – not a negative thing, however.

The vegetables were still super crispy, and they even threw some onions in there – actually, whilst I’m writing this up, I’m thinking I may have been given chicken, onions, and peppers in a black bean sauce instead. HA.

Speaking to the staff they were from Bangkok, so their attitude and food was not faked in the slightest. I’m overjoyed that I’ve been able to find a gem like this just off my doorstep.

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