Reviews of Addie's on Urbanspoon are good and I'm encouraged by various bloggers and reviews describing it as some of the best, and fairly authentic, Thai in London. While I happen to think that in Manchester we have one of the best Thai restaurants anywhere in the form of Try Thai (fortuitously also just round the corner from my house!) it's worth seeing what the competition has to offer.
Service is swift -- almost alarmingly so when it comes to receiving
food! I estimate it's less than 5 minutes from the time I place my order
to my tom yam goong landing on the table -- followed, before I've had
time for more than a couple of spoonfuls, by the
other dishes. I'm initially surprised -- do they think I'll have
finished my soup so quickly? -- but then recall that in a typical Thai
meal, soup is served not as a starter but as part of the whole spread,
to be consumed alongside the other dishes.It's hard to go too far wrong with tom yam, and Addie's version is no exception to the rule. While perhaps not quite living up to the promise created by my initial smell-based impressions, it delivered the requisite hit of punchy flavours along with 2 decent-sized juicy, bouncy, tail-on prawns.
The other dishes shine far more, however, especially the som tam. This salad of shredded green papaya, carrot, green beans and cherry tomatoes in a spicy-sour dressing with crunchy peanuts is one of my favourite things, done well (we won't speak of those occasional travesties made with apple rather than papaya, overly sweet and with no chilli in evidence). There are several varieties to choose from, starting with the basic 'dried prawns', passing through the intrigue of raw prawns en route to the priciest option of deep-fried soft-shell crab. I ask the waitress what she recommends and she indicates the basic option, but when I ask about the 'dried prawn and salted crab' version and whether that refers to fermented preserved crab pieces (one of the traditional possibilities for som tam in Thailand but rare outside it -- palates unaccustomed to SE Asian food seem often to balk at fermented seafood, I've no idea why), she looks pleased and nods yes, so I opt for that.
My other choice is a recommendation from one of the reviews: the 'pla pad prik sod', deep-fried cod with morning glory and a chilli-garlic sauce. I was somewhat tempted to go for a pad thai or curry instead, other staples that are often benchmarks of quality for judging a new Thai restaurant, but didn't quite feel in the mood for either. Plus, eating a whole coconut curry on one's own is ineffably sad, and a recipe for heartburn besides.
In any case, I'm very pleased with my choice of cod when it arrives: large crisp-fried pieces of fish tossed in a salty, savoury sauce amongst tender, flavoursome greens and sliced chillies. The som tam is bursting with zingy flavour and plenty of crunch from the shredded papaya and beans, fresh juicy tomato and a mouthwateringly sour-sweet dressing, with the fermented crab adding a real hit of funky, salty flavour. I decide some sticky rice is needed to soak up all this deliciousness -- it too appears with magical speed.
A word of warning to the somewhat faint-of-tongue: the chilli
indications on the menu should be taken with some seriousness! While I
don't consider myself a rabid hothead, I do like a fair bit of kick to
my food and am usually the one amongst my friends who
can be found doggedly but blissfully scarfing down the sliced chillies
from a stir-fry, spooning up the last incendiary mouthfuls of a hot
chilli sauce or sprinkling Tabasco on my food with gay abandon. The som
tam was marked at 2 (out of a maximum 3) chillies
for heat rating, but I soon found myself in that sweaty, slightly
delirious, tear-inducing, endorphin-producing state that marks the verge
of good chilli-eating. Any hotter and it would have become more pain
than pleasure; as it was, this was the kind of masochillistic
experience that I was rather glad to be enjoying as a solo diner...My only other caveat about Addie's is that the portion sizes aren't huge. I am a self-confessed glutton and have on occasion surprised friends with my eating capacity; that does also have to be understood in the context of me being a not-too-tall female of no more than medium build -- in other words, I eat lots for my size but plenty of my male friends still eat more than I do! I thought that in ordering a soup, salad and main I was probably setting myself up for an 'eyes bigger than stomach' fall, the more so once sticky rice appeared on the agenda. Instead I found myself pleasantly but not uncomfortably full after meticulously consuming every last shred of tangy papaya and shard of crispy fish (too good to waste!) I could have been satisfied with less; as it was, I had the opportunity to try more dishes without feeling guilty about wasting any leftovers, but big eaters may want to think about ordering more than the usual main + side per person. That said, the prices were fairly reasonable: a large glass of wine plus all that food came to about £30.
Was Addie's the best Thai I've had in London? Admittedly that's not much of an accolade given my limited previous experience, but I'm still happy to say a definite yes and to hazard a guess that it might be quite some time before I find one better! Bonus points for lovely staff and service - unobtrusive but efficient, and gave no indication of hurry even when I'd finished my food and was sipping the last of my wine, despite a posse of customers waiting for tables (I hurried myself a little, once I noticed). But was it better than Manchester's finest? I have to say, Try Thai still has my vote -- the freshness and intensity of the flavours I've experienced there has yet to be matched by any other UK restaurant. We really are lucky to have it up north! I'm going to award Addie's a well-deserved and in no way dishonourable second place.
Just as well I suppose, or I'd have to be finding excuses to trot down to London for my weekly fix...
Addie's Thai
121 Earl's Court Rd
SW5 9RL
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