Thai to dye for – Chaophraya facelift is a recipe for success

Emma Chadwick | 20th September 2016

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I’ve always loved Chaophraya, the iconic Thai that’s been feeding Mancunians authentic cuisine since, well it feels like the year dot, and now the eatery has had a little work done that goes way beyond cosmetic changes.

Yes there’s a new logo, new bits and pieces scattered around but also they’ve revamped the menu keeping the best of the golden oldies and coming up with new exciting takes on Thai cuisine to bring it bang up to palette date.

It’s a tight-knit team, apparently the entire kitchen is related to each other somehow and so are many of the front of house staff, we were told by the Group’s James Hacon.

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They’ve invested heavily in them and training, taking to tour Thailand to see what new dishes are coming up and to make sure they keep the taste Thai, but more importantly to take dishes to the next level.

We tried two of the new starters which perfectly demonstrate this on James’s recommendation. Dinky Thai chicken tacos sounded like they shouldn’t work but were utterly gorgeous and definitely a new favourite dish for me. Soft shell crab and squid tempera were a little dense batterwise for my taste, Australasia do it better, but a good addition.

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Onto mains and I got to cook my own choosing the aged sirloin steak which sizzles to how you like it on a Himalayan salt block. I am a salt fiend and loved how the saltiness infused through the heat and cooked the steak, well more seared for me as I like it rare. Delicious.

A new port belly dish also more than hit the spot whilst the coconut rice made me never want to go back to plain old boiled.

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Puddings too have been given the glam treatment and a chocolate ball filled with ice-cream whilst whisky sauce is blow torched on it was a show-stopper, in every way.

Chaophraya’s new menu is available at lunch and dinner with individual dishes will be priced from £6.50 for starters, £10.50 for mains and £7.50 for desserts.

Viva verdict: Thai cuisine at its finest.