A veritable explosion of Koh Thai Tapas restaurants has hit the south in recent years, the latest settling itself on Lymington’s High Street. Situated in the heart of this pretty Georgian town just minutes’ walk from the beautiful quay, Koh Thai Tapas, with its soft lighting, panoramic pictures of spectacular mountain sunsets and numerous Buddha statues, takes you directly from the streets of England to the ‘land of smiles’. Appealing to visitors and locals alike, the restaurant offers a vast array of authentic Thai dishes that can be enjoyed as a main meal or tapas, and even offers a bespoke service, putting together your favourite dishes for you.
The friendly, knowledgeable staff are more than happy to discuss the menu with you and explain what each dish is – including the level of heat. Even better for the uninitiated, there’s the opportunity to put yourself in the hands of the experts and enjoy a Thai tapas taster, a two-course meal created for you using the restaurant’s most popular dishes, taking in to account any allergies or special dietary requirements you may have. This is what we plumped for when we visited. After much deliberation with the lovely server, an array of stunning dishes arrived. The first course consisted of four Thai fishcakes, four duck and cucumber jumbo spring rolls with hoisin sauce, and four pieces of prime pork skewered on bamboo. This was followed by red curry chicken simmered in coconut milk, and tamarind duck served with seaweed and crispy noodles, accompanied by jasmine rice, sticky rice and egg noodles. Every dish was cooked to perfection, every mouthful was utterly delicious and all was served with a smile.
Offering takeaways and lunches, award-winning cocktails, alcoholic beverages and desserts, plus the opportunity to dine al fresco in the magical Chiang Mai garden in the summer months, this is one restaurant I’ll definitely be re-visiting.