Culinary Hags in London: ADDIE’S THAI CAFÉ

12 Earls Court Rd
London. SW5 9RL

Telephone: 020 7259 2620/ 020 7244 0132

Opening Hours: Mon to Fri 12:00 – 15:00, 18:00 – 23:00
Sat 18:00 – 23:00
Sun 18:00 – 23:30

Nearest Tube: Earls Court

Average price per person: £15 including alcoholic drinks

Forget Blue Elephant, Thai on the River and Busaba Eathai. For authentic Thai cooking at reasonable prices, we’ll like to name Addie’s best Thai in London. Great authentic cooking at very reasonable prices. On Friday nights downstairs hoards of Thai teenagers crowd around the entrance, swarming into the karaoke/club downstairs. Not my kinda music. Been down there once on a quiet night. Quite a small area with lounges and a few small TVs showing Thai music video clips with bouncing balls highlighting the lyrics. Yup. If that’s not your scene either, go for the food upstairs. Once again we have to attribute this place to Tiger Wee – for opening our eyes to bigger and better things. We’ve been there countless times and the service is always spot on and very accommodating.

On this particular night with the sound of Darth Vader and light savers still humming in our ears and numbing our senses, all eleven of us descended on this modest restaurant. We had booked ahead and were seated with no problems. Basic interior with a small bar at the front. Nothing to shout about or dress up to the nines for – but the food works.

TW ordered for the whole table and ordered three lots of the tried and tested favs. After ordering, ten minutes later (or maybe less) the food landed to a hungry hoard.

Kaeng Phed Ped Yang (£6.25) is a gorgeous dish of tender slices of roasted duck lavishing in a bath of red curry paste, coconut milk, Thai herbs and sweet basil leaves. Always a favourite.

My all-time favourite dish is the Goong Chair Nam Pla (£7.95). Not for the light-hearted or those suffering from gastric ulcers. Raw prawns are attractively arranged in a pagan circle totally covered in fresh chilli, minced garlic, lemon juice and fish sauce. I worship this dish. A brilliant example of raw simple ingredients blending together in gorgeous harmony. Raw prawns are surprisingly of sweet flesh. This dish must be eaten with plain rice to fully appreciate it – otherwise it’ll cinder your tastebuds senseless. Whether you want it or not the flood-gates of your sweat glands will open and gush uncontrollably. Yes, it’s that hot. As Yoda would say, order it you must.

Kho Moo Yang (£7.25) is always a hit. Glistening succulent neck of pork grilled to perfection. It comes with a sweet dipping sauce.

Pad Pak Boong (£4.95) is a hot and spicy vegetable dish. Don’t know whether you’ve heard of this vegetable but it’s called morning glory or water spinach. It has its own unique taste which I find difficult to describe…not at all like traditional English spinach. Addie’s fry it with garlic and chilli. Perfect.

Pla Jaramed Rad Prik (£7.95) is deep-fried pomfret coated in a chilli-based sauce. So crispy you can eat the whole fish including head without having to unattractively spit out an odd bone. Always a bonus if you’re on a date to impress.

There are other tried and tested dishes which we recommend that we didn’t have on that night. Tom Yam soup (£3.35) with prawns or chicken. Kaeng Kiew Wan (£5.55) where you can have either beef/chicken/prawns in green curry paste, coconut milk, Thai herbs and sweet basil leaves. Kaeng Panang (£5.55) which is exactly the same but with red curry paste. The imaginatively and poetically named Weeping Tiger (£8.75) is a huge sizzling plate of steak – Thai style. Yam Pla Meuk (£7.50) is a spicy tender squid salad with fresh Thai herbs. I could go on and on. You get the picture. They’re good and have a whole lot of things we still haven’t tried.

Thai food is always great to wash down with Singha beer – easy drinking and light, a perfect accompaniment to a spicy meal. Also try the ice cold Thai tea or coffee – made I think with carnation milk.

The best valued Thai food in London we think. Easy going atmosphere and fast friendly efficient service. They never skimp on the freshness of their ingredients or serve you stingy portions. You don’t even need to be a fan of Thai karaoke music to appreciate this. Good enough for Thai people, good enough for us.

HRH

Have you been into Addie's recently? Wow...what a difference! The whole place has been revamped from a no-frills cafe, into a modern, funky chill-out restaurant/bar. Dark woods replace the pine chairs and table they had before. Spot lights artfully bounce off specially made black and white photography canvases.

Gone are the paper menus. Now they are replaced by funky perspex clad ones.

And have you seen their website? Gosh...didn't know they had one before...but this one is impressive!Clearly no expense has been spared as they aim to attract a larger market, not just the Thais. But they have kept a few things. Their impeccable service, quality of food and most importantly...their prices are the same. Woohoo!

I've written a review on this fantastic restaurant before. Damn it...it is the best Thai is London. We did get the usual heartburn and reflux that always accompanies gluttony at Addie's. Pores open, sweat glands go into hyperactive mode. Enough to raise the hairs on the most follically challenged person.

Hover your cursor over the pics to get there description. All were our usual favs (again, see our previous review). For something new we tried the Yam Neau - Thai style spicy grilled beef salad. A little tough and sour for my liking. But all the rest we heartedly recommend.