Phetpalin Manchester

Last Tuesday 15th April I became officially middle aged, my daughter turned 21. On this momentous occasion, she was at her home in Edinburgh and I was working hundreds of miles away, in sunny London, so any chance of celebrating we're somewhat curtailed.

Luckily this week her and her boyfriend managed to tear themselves away from Scotland's first city for a visit to England's finest one.

Apparently Edinburgh is short of Thai restaurants, (forgivable in my opinion, as it has so many fantastic pubs)  so the beautiful one decided she wanted to try Phetphalin in China Town, which I had recently heard a couple of good reports about.

After a couple of  gin and tonics at Wetherspoons, and a visit to Tesco express for wine and cider,  5 of us including Mr G, daughters boyfriend and my son staggered the short work round the corner and up the stairs to Phetpalin. First impressions were that we had gone back 22 years when I myself was celebrating my 21st in some dodgy suburban Chinese, (note - this would have never happened I hate Chinese).

 The staff however were very friendly and as most of know it's the food that counts, plus the background music was interesting, so we sat down and decided what we wanted.
 I suggested getting two of the mixed starters but my son, who is a teenager, doesn't share, though he is always happy to try everyone else's, so we ordered two specials for the four of us and a chicken satay for him.

I have to be honest I don't think starters are the best part of a Thai meal, me and Mr G usually have a soup or salad instead, these were ok, the satay was good as were the prawn toasts, but the fish cakes were a bit too rubbery and the overall impression was of lots of deep fried things with not quite enough dips.

For mains me and Mr G shared a duck curry and Tilapia in a spicy sauce, they were really lovely, especially the fish and the portions were very generous, my son had a green chicken curry, and the 21 year old and her OH shared a chicken red curry and a spicy chilli beef stir fry, we agreed the beef stir fry was the star of the show, although it was a three chilli dish so not for the faint hearted!

The bill for 5 with 10% service charge was just over £100, so not amazing value for money but because you bring your own wine it does cut the cost, and it's a really good place for a night out with family or friends.