Busaba Eathai opens in Manchester

I went to see the Book of Mormon back in August (if you haven't seen it yet get it on your to-do list!), and afterwards James and I needed food. We happened to stumble across Busaba Eathai in Leicester Square - with bi-fold style doors spilling out onto the pavement, our open window seat was perfect and the food was delicious...

I had no idea it was a chain until they got in touch and asked if I wanted to come to the preview of the Manchester restaurant launch, and naturally I was all over it.

I've spoken before about my favourite Thai dishes so I was looking forward to checking Busaba out again, as well as enjoying a good cocktail or two.

We kicked off with a Thai taste session with Busaba's executive chef, Jude Sangsida. He talked us through the three dominant flavours found in Thai food (sweet, salty and spicy), offering round various sauces and things to dip in so we could choose our favourite. Mine was spicy, quelle surprise. He also made us Som Tam salad - an amazingly light, zingy papaya salad sprinkled with nuts and chilli.

It was then onto cocktails. Before we had our cocktail masterclass, we had a round of drinks to limber up - I went for the Thai Martini and my god it was amazing:

Gin, basil, lemongrass & elderflower served in a basil-sugar rimmed glass.

Then it was our turn to mix the drinks - we each made a Coconut Collins (described to us as a more mature pina colada).  Jamaican coconut rum, crushed ginger and lemongrass, pineapple juice and lime juice, ice.

Ho ho ho and a bottle of rum...

Delicious, but I definitely preferred the Martini.

Now on to foooooood. Naturally, I went for my faves - chicken satay starter and pad thai for the main. James went for calamari followed by, hands down, one of the best red Thai curries I've ever had (the Songkhla red curry). Maybe even the best. The beef was so tender and soft, falling apart in your mouth it had been cooked that long, and mixed with a creamy, spicy sauce and coconut rice, it was safe to say I had food envy. The calamari was great and had a popcorny taste to it (which sounds odd, I know, but just worked). I'm annoyed because I didn't take a picture of the red beef curry!! But take my word, it was the absolute dogs b.

The satay didn't disappoint; the sauce was spicy and rich, and I loved the way the chicken was cooked, barbecued with a definite smoky taste.

My classic pad thai (first picture) was everything I could've asked for; rice noodles, chicken, tofu, peanuts, dried shrimp, egg, beansprout and lime. Great portion size too.

We didn't notice at the time, but both our mains were gluten free which is handy to note for all you GF's.

After *another* Thai Martini (that sugared basil rim though) and chatting to some lovely, likeminded (read, tipsy) people, we headed home. But we'll be back! It's an absolute winner in my eyes.

Busaba Eathai is open from Monday 18th January and can be found in the Printworks. 

Top 5 Foods from Thailand

In case you didn't know, I went to Thailand a month ago. Whilst I'm not sorry for the magnitude of Instagram pics, I am sorry for the fact that it's taken me so long to write about the incredible food I gorged on for ten days. In a more general sense, it was nice to get away from macros, tracking foods and all that jazz, and just relax without worrying about what was going into my body (plus 'posh' cocktails are around £2 so I think MyFitnessPal would've had a melt down...)

Thai food is up there for me in ticking all the right boxes; saucy, spicy and so flavoursome. Here are the top five foods I lived on.

1) Fresh blended fruit smoothies

See above. Oh yes. These little babies were ideal in the midday heat, perfect to know you're getting a vitamin fix and tanning at the same time.

You bought these particular smoothies from a tiny little vendor shacked up on a track running into the village from the beach. Priced at 50 baht each (about £1), I couldn't just get one...

Mango & ice was my favourite of the holiday, but dragonfruit and ice was also a winner - I don't eat it often so I was glad to be able to try it so freely!

So simple, but so lovely.

Pad Thai on Koh San Road... the dream

2) Pad Thai

So I lost count of how many pad thai's I had, let's just say a lot. I absolutely love it. I love the peanuts and the chilli and the juicy prawns and the tamarind and fish sauce on the noodles... it's just amazing.

I've been looking out for tamarind sauce in the UK for weeks and can't find it anywhere. I really want to recreate it at home - so if you know where I can find it let me know!!

3) Warm, weird little coconut ball things

I don't know what these are called, or exactly what was in them but oh my god they made breakfast heaven. I'm guessing coconut milk, potentially a bit of rice? and then fried ever so lightly. They were gooey and sweet, but light enough that you could eat a plateful to yourself and not feel guilty.

Whilst we're on the subject of breakfast, this was the view each morning:

I know. Don't.

4. Chicken Satay 

Turning my nut butter obsession Thai... Chicken Satay skewers were my go-to starter. That peanut sauce. Juicy hot chicken. Enough said.

5. Thai red curry 

I couldn't miss this off the list could I?! We ate at the Jip Shop restaurant about four times; a really amazing beach hut style place in the village. The staff were lovely and friendly, there's a really chilled atmosphere and the food was bloody delicious.

This Thai Red was spicy but not mouth-numbingly so, brimming with chicken, peppers and local veg.

Are there any other Thai delicacies I need to try and recreate at home..? I've got withdrawal symptoms!