Sunday 3 June 2012

Thai Aroy Dee 8.5/10

Joe went to Thai Aroy Dee without me a few months ago, and I was very jealous when he came home with tales of amazing Thai food at reasonable prices and, best of all, a bring your own policy.  Well, it was only a matter of time before he caved to my insistences that he took me there too.

Thai Aroy Dee is on Vicar Lane, sandwiched between the Tong Palace and an "adult superstore" (mmm...classy).  It is a nice little cafe, small, but when we went was packed with a great range of patrons including a lot of Thai which is always a great sign when looking for authentic, tasty food.

Having picked up a couple of beers from Gerrys on Briggate (one of the best wine and spirit purveyors in the city by the way), we settled in for a starter of prawn and vegetable tempura.  The batter was super light and crispy, the vegetables hot and full of flavour and served with a sweet piquant chilli sauce.  A very good start.

The main event was chicken pad medmamuang himmapran, served spicy on request (chicken with cashew nuts, pineapple and chilli oil), yum phed yang (hot and sour roast duck with chilli and lemon), pad broccoli in an oyster sauce and fried rice.

The chicken was absolutely brilliant - sweet, salty and lovely and spicy and was definitely my favourite.  I wasn't a huge fan of the duck, but I'm not normally as I don't like the fat.  It tasted nice but was a bit overwhelmed by the chicken.  The broccoli was a total revelation: crunchy broccoli with a salty, fishy sauce, ginger and chilli. Fantastic.

I'd definitely recommend trying Thai Aroy Dee - it might not look like much from the outside but the food is wonderful.  Next time we are going to be a bit more adventurous and ask for some recommendations of more off-piste dishes.
Pad broccoli
Yum phed yang (hot and sour roast duck with chilli and lemon)
pad medmamuang himmapran (chicken with pineapple, cashews and an extra dose of chilli for me
Me and my broccoli
Joe enjoying his rice
Oh, and when I said next time, Joe went back for Thai Aroy Dee for lunch two days later!  They do a deal of £6.50 for two courses, every day between 12.00 and 5.00pm.  This time he tried the pad thai and spring rolls, both of which were also great.  So so far, not a dud in sight.  Good job.
Joe's lunch - pad thai and spring rolls

1 comment:

Pattaya said...

Several dozens of uniquely tasty and fiercely spicy dishes from Bangkok can truly make your Thai travel more enjoyable and exciting! When I'll go to Thailand next month, the first stop would be Thai Aroy Dee!;)