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Bangkok Diners Club - Preview

When it was recently announced that the kitchen at The Edinburgh Castle over in Ancoats would be closing, I was more than a little disappointed to be honest.  It's always been one of my favourite spots for some low key yet great quality dining, and some of the city's best Chefs have passed through the kitchen.  It's just a lovely spot and the news was seemingly a sad loss for the city. 

However, it didn’t take long for news to break that the former upstairs dining space at TEC would be occupied by, possibly contentiously, a new Thai restaurant!  As more details emerged it became clear that the venue would be driven by Ben and Bo Humphreys; a team who are more than a bit familiar with cuisine from that part of the globe.  Ben's Cheffing CV is notable, including big local names such as Australasia, James Martin, Tattu, Wood, Rabbit in the Moon, District, Lucky Cat and Tokyo Ramen.

I was invited down for a closer look, and based on our past experience of Ben's ventures in the city, couldn’t wait to see more.

Now when asked what we'd like to order, as with most such invites, as to avoid either being demanding on the kitchen or missing out on the best bits, our response was 'Please could Chef just feed us?'.  And Chef gratefully did just that. Very, very well, as follows;

The first dish served was Battered pickled onion rings with curry salt (£6), and they were a taste sensation.  Seeing such effort going into the prep of a humble onion ring was an early statement of intent, and this absolutely smashed it.

Omelettes might not spring to mind as something traditionally Thai, but that couldn’t be further from the truth.  Google a lady called Jay Fai to change your mind.  Anyway, on the menu at BDC is Thai omelette with smoked mushroom nam prik pao (£6), and it's a belter….. and a bit cheaper than Jay Fai's.

Raw bass, calamansi nam jim and rice bran (£11) was the first plate served but was one of the finest of the evening.  Firm bass with sublime layering of flavours, plus some expertly measured acid balance.  Wonderful, and was also loved by the tables around us based on their murmurs.

Chicken thigh skewers with coriander root (£9) was a crowd pleaser, and someting comforting and familiar to most diners.  Not much screams far Eastern street food any better than skewered/grilled protein.  The skin could have been crispier and hence pulled off in one bite, but this is a dish which I imagine most tables will order and thoroughly enjoy.

Papaya salad (£9) with smoked tomato, peanut, shrimp floss brought some freshness to our buffet of goods.  Masterfully dressed using quality veggies, with some textural bite from the peanut.  Splendid work.

Haddock Tom Kha, shimeji mushroom, baby corn (£16) added some fish to our dishes, and the Haddock was cooked well, complemented by those trademark Tom Kha notes of coconut, sweet, sour, spice, all stacking up to create yet another plate which brought both flavour and pleasure.

No Thai feast would be complete without some form of curry, so Artichoke and Golden Beetroot Massaman (£14) ticked that box.  The sauce was a huge flavour bomb, and is clearly made with bags of love and effort.    The ideal balance of being super spicy and also deeply flavoursome.  The chicken fat rice (£6) which came with this dish worked like a charm.  Served simply, with that chicken fat and skin adding a great depth of flavour.

Roast Pork Belly in a punchy Phat Phet sauce with shavings of rhubarb (£16) was our final course and delivered everything that you expect from roasted meats.    Crunchy cracking with supremely juicy pork, tempered with that fiery chilli sauce.  Utterly delicious

And with that, we were full.  Chef's choice of dishes had more than achieved their aims and my initial upset over the dining room's closure were cut short.  Bangkok Dining Club is legit, and Im happy to say that it's yet another slick operation to grace said dining room, in line with the history of said space.

In short, it's some of the best Thai cooking anywhere in the city, if not the very best full stop.  You owe it to yourself to check out Bangkok Diner's Club.

** Our experience was gratefully comped **