Restaurant review: Chaophraya Thai

I visited Chaopraya Thai restaurant near the Bullring with my family a few nights ago (Wednesday night at about 6:30, its started off reasonably empty but had filled up by the time we were leaving)) and was very impressed! It had very mixed reviews, from terrible to amazing, so I wasn't sure what to expect. http://chaophraya.co.uk/

Firstly it looks nice. It manages to have a jelly fish tank, a lots of reflective surfaces and orange colours, yet not look tacky. The staff were very welcoming and polite, we told them one of our party had a train to catch and they were very accommodating. (as an addition, the toilets are lovely! They have oil burners in, so smell like a spa!)

The menu is extensive, but there are the typical classic dishes to help you out! We picked mild dishes, as a few of our party don't like their food very spicy. Although not hot, the dishes had strong complex layered flavours.  The food is on the pricey side, but we had such a brilliant experience here that we all decided we would recommend it and can't wait to go back!


Four Seasons Duck Curry  £12.95
Four seasonal fruits of grape, pineapple, strawberry and tomato cooked in a flavourful curry sauce with roasted duck and sweet basil.

This was lovely, not too sweet, not to creamy and with a very sight heat, duck Thai currys are my favourite!

Crispy Pork Belly with Thai Basil £9.95
Street-style pan fried crispy pork belly tossed with fresh chillies, garlic, green beans and hot basil leaves.

This was also very flavoursome, the favourite dish of one of us, but others found the pork a little tough. The pieces were a little on the large size for eating with a fork and a spoon!

Chicken Pad Thai £9.95
Stir fried rice noodles in tamarind sauce with chicken, spring onions, carrots, egg, sweet turnip and bean sprouts served with ground peanuts and fresh mango.

This was lovely, the mango was a nice touch that lifted the dish.


King Prawns with Ginger  £14.95
King prawns sautéed with straw mushrooms, fresh ginger, peppers, onions, spring onions, chilli and soya beans.

Very nice, sharp and refreshing. Enormous juicy prawns and enough for most of our part of 4 to have 2 each.

Huevos Rancheros Mexican Breakfast

So I was inspired by the restaurant 'Giraffe' where you can eat a massively over priced but extremely yummy Mexican breakfast. But you can eat the same for a FRACTION of the price at home! Plus making your own tortillas is incredibly satisfying, utterly yummy and a fun thing to do on a lazy Sunday Morning! The breakfast takes some love and care because of resting the tortilla dough, but its worth it and the labour is actually very minimal. At the end you'll be left with warm buttery flour tortillas topped with sweet, spicy, salty beans and peppers and a hot runny egg, HEAVEN!

I make my tortillas to the recipe on the 'Homesick Texan' blog -  a brilliant resource for authentic Tex-Mex recipes.

Texas Flour Tortillas (adapted from The Border Cookbook by Cheryl Alters Jamison and Bill Jamison)
Ingredients:Two cups of all-purpose flour (can make them whole wheat by substituting one cup of whole-wheat flour for white flour)1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder1 teaspoon of salt (note: I like to use smoked sea salt and you can add in smoked paprika if you fancy)2 teaspoons of vegetable oil3/4 cups of warm milk

from the Homesick Texan' Blog

Method: Mix together the flour, baking powder, salt and oil. Slowly add the warm milk.Stir until a loose, sticky ball is formed.

Knead for two minutes on a floured surface. Dough should be firm and soft. Place dough in a bowl and cover with a damp cloth or plastic wrap for 20 minutes.

After the dough has rested, break off eight sections, roll them into balls in your hands, place on a plate (make sure they aren’t touching) and then cover balls with damp cloth or plastic wrap for 10 minutes. (It’s very important to let the dough rest, otherwise it will be like elastic and won’t roll out to a proper thickness and shape.)

After dough has rested, one at a time place a dough ball on a floured surface, pat it out into a four-inch circle, and then roll with a rolling pin from the center until it’s thin and about eight inches in diameter. Don’t over work the dough, or it’ll be stiff. Keep rolled-out tortillas covered until ready to cook.In a dry iron skillet or comal heated on high, cook the tortilla about thirty seconds on each side. It should start to puff a bit when it’s done.Keep cooked tortillas covered wrapped in a napkin until ready to eat. Can be reheated in a dry iron skillet, over your gas-burner flame or in the oven wrapped in foil. While you probably won’t have any leftovers, you can store in the fridge tightly wrapped in foil or plastic for a day or so.

Makes eight tortillas.

The Topping
On top of these yummy hot buttered tortillas I scatter a mix which I just heat through briefly in a frying pan of:

Mixed Beans tinned in spring water
Sweetcorn (tinned or fresh and boiled in water for 10 mins)
garlic chopped finely
sweet red jalapeño peppers chopped

Then on top of this goes a hot runny poached egg, grated cheddar, ground black pepper and some fresh coriander to garnish!