This choice for Thai was not just far from the madding crowd but mostly secluded on the southern end of the Broadway. It is wedged between an office building and a shop of fishing tackle and outdoor clothing, almost hidden in anonimity unless you pass in front.
A set of four French doors opens up to a widened entrance, which we really welcomed on the warm sunny day we picked. The interior follows the structure of high street shops from the good old days and it removed all partitions for one whole rectangle hall which ends with a nice corner bar and an entrance to the kitchens. Authentic décor of wooden panels, brass crowns and copper Buddhas, more modern and refreshing without too much detail. Bit low on music for ambience unless it is only reserved for evening service. Overall, very calm, very quiet for lunchtime. No clients and few staff at hand. Definitely a recommended choice for noise-free lunches or where you need some level of intimacy. It may seem daunting at first and the one-man service can only look weirder and weirder.
We did not shy of the occasion and sat down to review the well-structure menu, which covered a good range of Thai specialities from soup and green curries to rice salads and roast duck. A lunch menu was also offered and it was a Summer one with fresh ingredients going hand in hand with the weather (
note: restaurant was visited mid-July) such as roast duck rice salad. Dishes were nicely decorated but not pretentiously, and flavours were simple but not under promised.
Drinks are not a front feature of our blog but they were one big winner at Mae Ping Thai. Although the waiting time was incredibly and surprisingly slow compared to food dishes, the cocktails turned out to be an amazing and colourful array of fruity cocktails, either alcoholic and non. Highly recommended to wash down any Thai dish service, whether hot or cold.
Our verdict is as follows:
Quality of Food 4.67
Hygiene 4.67
Value for Money 4.33
Speed of Service 3.00
Quality of Service 2.67
Ambience & décor 3.33
Mae Ping Thai gets an overall rating of 80.1%
