Review: Thaikhun Cambridge

Situated in Quayside and overlooking the River Cam, the Cambridge branch of Thai restaurant chain Thaikhun is one of several spread out across the UK.

Specialising in Thai street food, the Cambridge eatery is an attractive, welcoming and rather large space, which is light, open and tastefully decorated throughout.

The menu features classic Thai dishes, vegan and vegetarian options and some modern twists – and there is certainly a lot to choose from.

Starters, soups, curies, stir-fries, other rice and noodle-based dishes and an impressive selection of puddings, it took me a while to decide what to have.

In the end, I went for the Tom Yum soup, with chicken. Although it had mushrooms in it (and I’m not a big fan of mushrooms, to say the least), it was easy to pick them out and the soup itself was delicious.

It contains tomato, lemongrass, galangal, roasted chillies and lime leaves and is flavoured with Thai herbs and Carnation milk – a mouth-watering list of ingredients.

My wife began with the coconut prawns – prawns in coconut breadcumbs that come with a sweet chilli dip. She enjoyed them very much, praising their crunchiness and the fact that they came in an ‘ideally-sized’ portion.

Moving on to the main course, she opted for the Thai green curry, which contains coconut milk, courgettes, green beans, sweet basil and chillies, and rice.

Again, she loved it, particularly the “silky smoothness” of the sauce, as well as the thickness of it, and said the dish offered just the right balance between sweet and the spicy. She also said the sauce was abundant enough to cover all of the rice.

As the restaurant is quite elaborately decorated, I was expecting the dishes to be heavily garnished and ‘fancy-looking’, but, in keeping with the Thai street food aesthetic, the presentation of the food is actually quite simple – but that’s certainly not a complaint.

It is the taste that counts, of course, and to that end, I hit upon another ‘winner’ with my choice of main course – the chilli and Thai basil stir-fry, with beef.

The fresh chilli, garlic, onion, green beans and Thai basil perfectly supplemented the meat and the overall taste was delightful – though if you’re not into spicy food, then this dish is probably not for you.

There are plenty of other, non-spicy things to choose from on the stir-fry list and elsewhere, however.

We shared a tasty ‘Avo-Go-Go’ smoothie (avocado, broccoli, spinach, mango, coconut, ginger, lime and apple) and pudding-wise, my wife had the banana fritters and I had the citrus tart – both of which successfully rounded off a lovely meal.

If you’re looking for Thai food in Cambridge, then Thaikhun should definitely be near the top of your ‘must-visit’ list.

Thaikhun is a family-owned restaurant, founded by Khun Kim and her husband Martin Stead. At 15, Kim left her village for the lively streets of Bangkok.

In 1993, fuelled by her love for food, she launched her first Pad Thai cart, later expanding to multiple street food stalls and earning an award for her Pad Thai recipe.

In 1997, Kim and Martin connected at her stall and soon after she moved to Leeds, Martin’s hometown, and the pair opened their first restaurant.

Khun Kim developed her passion for cooking in Khiri Mat, a rural village in the Sukhothai province of Thailand, where she honed her skills alongside her mother.

[Read more: Loy Krathong Thai festival celebrated at Cambridge restaurant Thaikhun]

For more information on Thaikhun Cambridge, visit thaikhun.co.uk/thai-restaurant/cambridge.