chiang mai thai restaurant southend on sea essex great food

We really love this restaurant and it is our firm favourite in Southend on sea. If we want more of a night out, then we go to Leigh on sea or Hamlet court road, but this little place is a gem, and such good value.

Although it has some thai ornaments and a thai feel to it, the plastic tablecloths let it down, but what can one expect when one gets the freshest food at a great price? Having lived in Thailand for 7 months, it is one of my favourite foods. We have tried lots of things here and I can say that it is pretty authentic. We have tried the green and red curries, stir fried vegetables in oyster sauce, Pad Thai, Tom Yum and Tom Kha gai soups, jasmine rice, fishcakes, dumplings and much more. The only things I wouldn’t have again were the fishcakes and dumplings, but all the rest was great.

We have dined a la carte and utilised their ‘evening buffet’ which is not actually a buffet at all – you actually sit there and order anything you like from the menu and just keep going until you are full, so this gives a great opportunity to try lots of things out. At £14.99 (at time we went) each, it is a bargain, and the food it just as good.

Sometimes I do wonder about encouraging people to go to my small, favourite places, such as this one and ‘Wings’ Chinese also in Southend on sea, as I don’t really want them getting so busy I cant get a table! However, I have to recommend this place for good food at good value and they deserve it as they are just so friendly, polite and efficient. A really nice experience every time we go…

Date of visit: Various throughout 2010 and 2011

My marks out of 10: (10 being the highest)

Food – 8

Service – 9

Atmosphere – 7

Value for money – 10

135 Southchurch Rd

Southend-on-Sea SS1 2NW

Telephone: 01702 312 304

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Magic Mushroom restaurant Baarleylands Billericay Essex

I wanted to dine at this restaurant for a few years, and finally, we had a Sunday lunch – it was definitely worth the wait too!

We chose to eat outside in their terrace area, which was lovely since it was a warm July day, although the interior looked very comfortable and inviting too. The staff were friendly and professional, and nothing was too much trouble, whether it was asking for more gravy (I am very partial to it!) or asking information about the local craft shops in Barleylands.

However, the food was the star. As usual, I ordered beef, and not the pork, and wished I had, as Michael had pork, which delightfully came with apple sauce, cracking and stuffing, and I had to steal a couple of mouthfuls as it was so tasty and tender. This does not mean the beef wasn’t up to scratch – it certainly was – just that I should learn to differ from beef every so often. All the trimmings, including home made Yorkshire puddings and gravy were just right.

See the rest of the review after these photos – to see a photo in a larger format, please click on it and use your back browser to come back to this page….

Before this I had the prawn and crayfish cocktail, which sounds a safe choice, but it was a step up form the usual expectations of such a dish with a light, tangy sauce which perfectly coasted the seafood rather than drowning it. Simply delicious! Michael had the chicken liver salad – the livers were cooked beautifully, and the accompanying salad and dressing were completely complimentary.

Unable to resist the wonderful dessert menu, we had an apple and rhubarb crumble with custard and profiteroles with hot chocolate sauce to share, with coffees. Both were exactly as they should be and better.

All in all, a fabulous dining experience and we will be back to try the evening menu soon….

Food – 9

Atmosphere – 7

Value for money – 8

Service – 8

http://www.magicmushroomrestaurant.co.uk

Barleyland Rd

Billericay, Basildon CM11 2UD

01268 289 963

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Rak Chang main meal

This new contemporary Thai restaurant opened early 2010, so we tried it out. It has stiff competition with the longstanding Manolys restaurant up the road (which has had a refurbishment this year), but it has brought a fresh approach and it has worked.

The interior is smart, yet cosy and the chairs are really comfortable. It has a laid back feel, with plenty of space between the tables, and friendly, efficient staff. The extensive menu made it hard to choose our dishes, as there were some dishes that are not seen in other restaurants, which is great news. I spent 7 months in Thailand when I was younger, and have been waiting for a restaurant to serve some of the more unusual things like the Northern Jungle curry and the minced pork salad, which I will be back to try!

To start, we shared a beef salad and asked for it a little less hot than usual (as this is a very hot dish) and it came out just right – plenty of red chillis if you choose to eat them, but medium hot throughout. We always ask for “no MSG” as we do not get on with Monosodium…

…Glutamate, and yet everything still had plenty of flavour and really fresh ingredients. The beef was good quality and the portion very generous.

We had seabass in chilli and lime, which is one of my favourite dishes. The fish and juices were delicious, but I did find that the steamed seabass was overcooked, which does spoil such a delicate fish. To go with the fish, we tried their king prawns in sweet and sour and, again, the sauce was fresh tasting and had just the right amount of sweet and sour without being too thick and sticky like some. The large juicy prawns were cooked perfectly.

We also had stir fried vegetables in oyster sauce – again very fresh and a lovely mix of crunchy vegetables.

With plenty of Singha beers, the bill came to £56 with service, which we thought was very reasonable. We will, without doubt, be back!

Restaurant name

Rak Chang Thai Restaurant

Date of visit

16th March 2010 and ongoing into 2011 – it remains the same!

Restaurant telephone

01702 711180

Restaurant address

93, The Broadway, Leigh-On-Sea, Essex SS9 1PG

Service Charge included?

Yes

Average price per person for 3 course meal, excluding drinks

moderate (£20-£30)

How many dined?

2

Value for money rating?

8/10

Atmosphere Quality rating?

8/10

Service Quality rating?

8/10

Food Quality rating

7/10

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Samurai Thai restaurant essex

We have visited this Thai restaurant on the A13 a few times now, and it is consistent in everything it offers – good food, friendly service, comfortable environment and value for money.

The Thai style décor and seating set the scene with candles and flowers, without being luxurious and there’s a TV playing Karaoke Thai music which I find charming and very much like you would get in Thailand itself. It is a more relaxed restaurant than some in the area. The waitresses wear Thai dress, and attend to the diner very well.

One of my favourite Thai dishes is Thai beef salad, and as long as we ask for it a little less hot than they would normally do it, it comes out perfectly – very good beef and an authentic dressing. We have had the fish in curry paste, and that is superb, as well as the Thai sweet and sour, which is fresh and has plenty of vegetables. The only disappointment was a yellow curry we tried once, as it lacked flavour, but all other dishes have been very good.

They are always happy to serve our food without MSG so that is great. Although we have visited at other times, this is very convenient for a meal to go with a show or play at the Palace Theatre.

Restaurant name

Samurai Thai

Date of visit

various to February 2010

Restaurant telephone

01702 430446

Restaurant address

497, London Rd, Westcliff-On-Sea, Essex SS0 9LG

Service Charge included?

No

Average price per person for 3 course meal, excluding drinks

moderate (£20-£30)

How many dined?

2

Value for money rating?

8/10

Atmosphere Quality rating?

7/10

Service Quality rating?

8/10

Food Quality rating

7/10

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I have not tried it, but they do a buffet at certain times, which offers a basic selection of dishes at a very good price. We saw a family have the buffet and they seemed to enjoy it, so this is great if you either want to try a few things or are on a budget.

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I quite like the tables with the see through glass, so that you can see the decorations inlaid within, and it is fairly comfortable. They serve the usual Thai dishes, which are pretty good. I just feel that there are better restaurants in the local area.

(I will add the photos from our meal soon…)

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I quite like the tables with the see through glass, so that you can see the decorations inlaid within, and it is fairly comfortable. They serve the usual Thai dishes, which are pretty good. I just feel that there are better restaurants in the local area.

(I will add the photos from our meal soon…)

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Tudor Thai interior

I have been to the Tudor Thai only once, and I was quite pleased with the food and service.

The staff are friendly and the interior is fairly small, with wooden tables and chairs, but comfortable enough. We had a Thai salad and Thai chicken curry, and found it authentic.

I have not been back since, but I have no hesitation in suggesting this restaurant as somewhere to eat good Thai food with a nice service, it is just that I have my own favourites in the area which I feel are a little better, and I prefer somewhere a little more cosy.

See the restaurant details below these photos – (open the photos by clicking on them and use your browser back button to come back to this page….

Restaurant name

Tudor Thai Restaurant

Date of visit

April 2009

Restaurant telephone

01702 389500

Restaurant address

1773, London Rd, Leigh-On-Sea, Essex SS9 2ST

Service Charge included?

No

Average price per person for 3 course meal, excluding drinks

moderate (£20-£30)

How many dined?

2

Value for money rating?

7/10

Atmosphere Quality rating?

6/10

Service Quality rating?

7/10

Food Quality rating

6/10

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(please click on the images below to enlarge and press the back button on your browser to return to the main page)

Restaurant name

Manolys Thai Restaurant

Restaurant address

31 Broadway Leigh-On-Sea Essex SS9 1PA

Restaurant telephone

01702 475513

Date of visit

various from 1998 to January 2009

How many dined?

2

Average price per person for 3 course meal, excluding drinks

moderate (£20-£30)

Service Charge included?

Yes

Value for money rating?

8/10

Atmosphere Quality rating?

6/10

Service Quality rating?

7/10

Food Quality rating

8/10

manolys thai seabass and mains

Manolys thai restaurant in Leigh on Sea has been around for many years, and I have been going there since I was young.  I have spent lots of time in Thailand, living with the locals, so I am quite fussy with thai food and its authenticity.  I have to say that Manolys is very authentic and very good food, consistently.  Over time, I have had seabass with coriander and chilli (awesome!), red, green and yellow curries, pad thai, rices, noodles, and vegetable dishes and they are all good!  If you love fish, you will love the seabass if they have it on the specials menu when you go!

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