Another local Thai, I’m afraid, but one that really delivers the goods. Ratchada is a modern looking restaurant, with blond floorboards, decorative chillies and halogen spotlights, but tempers this with pictures of the Thai Royal Family (well, I presume they were. They could have been pictures of Thai soapstars for all I knew). Maybe surprisingly, this combination doesn’t seem to clash and works quite well.

A table for 8 was booked for a family lunch and we had the restaurant to ourselves, apart from the odd person popping in for a Red Curry to take away, so the service was not really challenged in any way. I have eaten here before during busier times, though, and have never had any issues.

To keep things simple and not go through a tortuous ordering process, we ordered six set menu’s, to share between 6 adults and two children with healthy appetites. This turned out to be plenty for £19.95 each.

Starters consisted of Poh Pia Jay (vegetarian spring rolls), Tord Mun (spicy Thai fish cakes), Chicken Satay and Tung Tong (crispy pork and prawn parcels). In addition, we ordered a starter of Pla Meuk Yang (spicy chargrilled squid).  The spring rolls were crispy, the satay tender with a good bite to the sauce and the parcels a tasty treat. The fish cakes were a little spongey for my liking and the squid very slightly overdone, but overall the starters were good.

The main courses picked up the pace, with an excellent chicken Phad Krapow (stir fry with sweet basil and chillies), a lovely mixed seafood Gang Panang (thick and creamy red curry) and a delicious chicken Gang Khiew Whan (Thai green curry). The carbs consisted of vegetable Phat Kuay Teow Kee Mao (rice noodles with chillies, onion basil and runner beans) and Khao Suay (steamed rice).

The stir fry had a good, tangy taste with the red curry being creamy with a kick and the green curry mild and comforting. An additional dish of beef Yum (salad with garlic, chillies, coriander and lime juice) was also good, although I would have liked the meat to have been a little more tender.

I left the dessert to the kids, who not only managed to polish off a good size portion of ice cream each, but wolfed down a complimentary bowl between them, too. The big kids went for either the banana or apple fritters.

Ratchada is a very good local Thai restaurant which serves good quality, authentic Thai food with unobtrusive service. The all in bill came to £180 or £30 a head (discounting the children), including service and drinks and I would say it was definitely worth the money.