Five Thai

FiveThai is a new Thai Restaurant in the centre of Leicester. Previously Lanna Thai, Five Thai is ‘inspired by the five flavours of Thai cuisine’ and ‘aims to provide you with a complete dining experience’. Seeing as I am a fan of Thai food and this one is on my doorstep, I thought I would give it a go.

Five Thai is situated in a slightly strange location.  It’s certainly not somewhere you might stumble across. Although adjacent to THE CURVE, you have to walk right around the front of the theatre, down an ever darkening Rutland Street, until you eventually come across the entrance to the restaurant. However, if you successfully complete the journey your efforts are rewarded.

The building and restaurant itself are quite impressive. Previously a leather factory, this Grade 2 listed building has been transformed into a beautiful, bright, spacious, modern restaurant. The ceilings are wonderfully high and there is a mass of natural light coming through the restaurant from the glass wall at the rear.  This, combined with the white walls, wooden flooring, contemporary furniture and soft subtle lighting creates a really relaxing and soothing environment to dine in.

The restaurant therefore was very pleasant, as was the service. When we arrived, we were immediately greeted by a friendly and upbeat member of staff, who welcomed us in and showed us to our table. He then went through the menu, explaining some of the dishes and was polite and attentive throughout.

 

The menu itself was a little uninspiring. Unusually for Asian food, the menu was quite short and simple, consisting of two salads, six Thai curries, three noodle dishes and three stir fry dishes. Unfortunately our selection was limited further as a couple of items were unavailable.  The waiter reported they been unable to source key quality ingredients locally which was a shame in terms of the impact on the menu but reassuring that Five Thai set, and adhere to such high standards.

Unfortunately, I didn’t feel these same high standards were achieved by the time the food reached the table.  Like the menu, the food was also a little uninspiring. To start, I shared a selection of Dim Sum.  A mixed platter, with mixed success. The Satay Chicken had fantastic flavour and was brilliantly moist. The Fish Cake however, was rather rubbery and the Prawn Toast was extremely greasy (even for prawn toast). The four dipping sauces accompanying the starter were nice, but getting them onto the end of your Tung Tong or Spring Roll proved technically tricky as the dishes they were served in were too shallow.  What a tease!?

The Green Curry we shared as part of our main course was again, fairly standard. Six King Prawns ‘swimming’ about in a fragrant, sweet, coconut milk, served with large chunks of Aubergine and Bamboo Shoots. Balanced, but dare I say a little bland for a curry? I dare! The Laab Gai (minced Chicken Salad) delivered more flavour and managed to capture the hot, sweet and sour element Thai cuisine is famous for, far more successfully than the curry. The lime and mint gave the dish a lovely freshness and the chilli provided a much needed spice to the meal. However, the two large salad leaves the dressed mince was sitting on, were a little limp and droopy.  Not quite what you might expect from a restaurant that ‘always strive to source our food locally, enabling us to retain fresh and vivid ingredients’.

 

The salad was not very substantial either. I would definitely have left hungry if that was the only main course ordered and at £12.00 I am not sure it represented good value for money. The same could be said for all the courses, but I think at Five Thai you are paying for the ambience and not just the meal. So I guess if this is important to you and you are willing to pay a higher premium for that type of dining experience, then the prices seem much more reasonable.

 

 

So overall, Five Thai is a memorable place to eat, providing good service and serving average food. Personally, I would prefer memorable food, with good service, served at an average restaurant. As a result the next time I have some Thai food urges I won’t be walking into town to Five Thai but jumping into my car and driving up the A6 to Thai Legend, Quorn.

 

Restaurant                  4/5

Food                             3.5/5
Service                         4/5
Value for money        3.5/5

 Total                            15/20