Review: Thaikhun Restaurant Guildford

Thai food is one of Husband's favourite cuisines but due to my coriander allergy it is always tricky for me to navigate so I tend to avoid it. So when Thaikhun invited us to review their Guildford Restautant which serves authentic Thai street food he was jumping for joy while I was a little hesitant.

We haven't been to Thailand but upon entering Thaikhun on Guildford's Friary Street I felt like I had been transported across the globe. Serious kudos to the decorating team.

The staff could not have been more helpful. We were shown to a table and the kids were given colouring sheets. The menu did say that they should have National Geographic magazines but they never appeared - not that my kids really noticed as at 5 and 2yrs colouring sheets pretty much hit the spot.

We were offered some delicious crackers to start as we perused the huge menu. I mean really huge. I struggled a little as it was a bit overwhelming with so much to choose from.

I loved the sound of it all. The sharing pintos (traditional Thai lunch boxes made up of stacking mental containers filled with a selection of different dishes) looked like great fun but Husband hates sharing food so I had to make the complicated decision of what one dish I was going to choose. The staff were super helpful with my coriander allergy and checked every dish with the chefs to make sure I was safe. I felt very reassured and they made me feel like it was no trouble at all.

The kids menu was easier to navigate. For starters they get veggie sticks and for their mains they could select from Veggie Phad Thai, fried chicken with jasmine rice or mix and match noodles or rice with chicken, pork or veggies and choice of sauce. Dessert is an ice lolly and they also get a glass of juice, water or milk. The kids meal costs £5.95 which seemed good value especially as the menu promised free creepy crawlies with every meal! The kids were super excited about that!

To start I should mention how brilliant the kids drinks are because they are served in a spill proof animal themed cup. One of us usually ends up with a glass of something tipped in our laps so that was brilliant and the kids loved the character design. My Gin Cooler cocktail was pretty impressive too...

To start I chose the chicken spring rolls while Husband had tempura battered prawns. Both of which were delicious and generous portions.

The kids meals came at the same time as the starters. This wasn't ideal as our 5yr old Little E wanted to know where her starter was! It was in fact the cup of veggie sticks on her plate. Now if they had come out on their own she'd have eaten them all while waiting for her main. But because they came with her main she barely touched them as she was so busy with her other food. Same goes for her Little Sister.

So it didn't quite work for us but the kids loved the prison style trays the food came on with little compartments for each item of food. They were really excited by it and ate loads of their mains. Husband and I tried Little E's grilled chicken and it was out of this world. Little I's Phad Thai was stuffed with veggies which would be great if she actually ate cooked veggies... Miss Fussy still enjoyed sucking up the noodles which were also delicious (we had to try them purely for review purposes...)

Then our mains arrived and boy were they good. I had the beef with oyster sauce and flat ribbon noodles which was immense, so much beef I simply couldn't eat it all!

Husband had beef Massaman Curry with Sticky Rice and it looked superb. Like me he couldn't finish it all!

The kid's finished their mains before us so their ice lollies (Mini Milks) and were bought to them early. Which again kinda worked but didn't because it meant we missed out on desserts because the kids were all done and dusted. We were so full I doubt we'd have fit much in but the puddings sounded so unusual we probably would have ordered some to try. Afterall there's a different stomach for pudding right?

Overall we had a stunning meal with fantastic service and despite the timings being a little off we'd go back again and ask them to bring the kids mains with ours, which would solve the problem instantly. We didn't realise until we got to the car we hadn't been given any critters to try as promised on the menu! I'm not gonna lie I am secretly happy about that but the kids were a bit upset! Who'd have thought the idea of eating bugs was so appealing...

Thank you Thaikhun for a great experience but next time we'll ask for some critters for the true street food vibe!

This is meal was complimentary for review purposes but all opinions are our own.

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