Tarn Thai – Thai – Nottingham

Located on a Hockley side street Tarn Thai could be dismissed as nothing special as a casual passer by. Look closer though and you will see that in décor and ambience little in Nottingham can compare. On entering you’re met with a pond amongst the leafy seating area. The theme continues in the dining area with waterfalls and plants punctuating the seating.

Tarn Thai – Nottingham

Tarn Thai – Nottingham

Food-wise, and in keeping with the surroundings, you get a ‘posh’ Thai experience rather than street food or home style cooking. The linen bound menu is quite vast, and relatively pricey. Starters were all £7-8, while a curry will typically set you back £11 with an additional £3.50 for rice. It is in a similar bracket to the top Indian restaurants in town. A starter of Gai Hor Bai Teuy saw marinated chicken cooked in pandan leaves. The cooking in this way brings a little extra flavour dimension; the garlicy gingery hit of the meat is enhanced further by how moist this method keeps the chicken.

Gai Hor Bai Teuy

Panang moo, red curry, is my general choice of main if I am eating Thai and it would be remiss of my not to sample Tarn Thai’s effort. It was served both attractively, and precariously, in a bowl above a sort of candle stove. The curry itself was very good, warmth and subtle fragrant spice with a sweet finish. There was enough pork to please me and it was cooked well. I also appreciated the addition of quite a few peppers which added a bite and freshness to the dish.

Panang Moo

If you visit Tarn Thai at lunch you can enjoy 2 courses for £9.50 which is rather good value. Tarn Thai is often near the top of mind if someone asks me for a restaurant recommendation and this meal reinforced that view. The consistency of the restaurant is strong and I have been with larger parties and seen the standard maintained. The service and atmosphere is really second to none and I’m confident I’ll end up back for another red curry…or two.

• Food

  8

• Value

  7

• Service

  9

• Overall

  8

Restaurant website: http://www.tarnthai.co.uk/index.html