MAI THAI - The Echo of Thailand

Decision was made to add a brand new cuisine in our next leg on this culinary journey, and so the well-known Thai cuisine came to our attention.

Mai Thai is a small establishment looking right onto one of the key intersections on Wimbledon's loop system. The outside is simple and not pretentious, showing a curvy Thai-like font and a humble reference to pagoda-like eaves. Inside, the restaurant is small, very small, so we were lucky to find a table for seven without booking - do not take that risk, if I were you. There were quite a few people for lunch, either couples, small groups or single diners, and the small enclosure made it all look very intimate, with a family feel and a sense of coziness. Still it did not feel overcrowded or packed, and not even noisy. It actually seemed there was an echo in the room and, according to our local experienced member Dr. Chang (alias to keep anonimity), this is what you would expect from a Thai house: basic and empty, or should I say clutter-free, to let the air flow in the humid heat of South East Asia...

Having sat on nice dark wooden tables, we picked the menus and swiftly opted to check the lunch menu out. Choice was short but varied and accomodating. Value for money though was not as enticing, thought, and probably picking from the menu "à la carte" would not have made a huge difference. Staff were courteous enough and they were also pretty quick, almost too quick that starters and mains overlapped each other without us requesting so.

Food was rather average with most feedback focusing on bland or overpowering taste and no outstanding presentation effort. Pork was too garlicky, rolls too greasy and soup too watery. The chicken curry though was the only champion out of the dishes ordered, as recommended by Dr. Chang. Overall, the food is acceptable but lacks the "wow" factor.

While the restaurant kept a decent Thai look, it failed to differentiate itself from other Thai or Asian joints. The group also wondered whether lunch menus are more of a cheap option of food but the general feeling is that quality of food should not differ between lunch and dinner, whatever on offer.

Our verdict is as follows:

Quality of Food        2.83
Hygiene                     3.67
Value for Money      3.83
Speed of Service       4.67
Quality of Service    4.00
Ambience & décor   3.33

Mai Thai gets an overall rating of 72.1%