A Mixed Bag at Chaophraya Newcastle

This post has been written by Steve.

Thai food is one of mine and Sam's favourite, we often make a Thai curry for our tea at home and Sam makes a mean Green Thai Chicken Soup. We've been to Chaophraya in Eldon Square in Newcastle a few times but not as often as we would like.

We decided to make a date of it and went out for a few drinks in town first. Cocktails at Purple Bear and All Bar One and then a few Beer's at Beeronomy, if you like craft beer I highly recommend having the Beer Flight at Beeronomy.

We then headed to Chaophraya, were shown to our table straight away and ordered another beer. We had already been looking at the menu in the days leading up to us going (does anyone not do this?), so we already knew what we wanted. For our starter we shared the Chaophraya Platter and the Ceviche Scallop with Chilli Dressing.

The Platter was a bit of a mixed bag. I really liked the Duck Jerky but Sam wasn't convinced. We both thought the Prawns we ok but the Fish Cakes had a strange texture that we didn't like.

There was also a single onion ring that was unnecessary and didn't seem to fit with the rest of the starter. We both liked the spring rolls and we really loved Chicken Tacos.

Sam - I would not order the sharing platter again. It felt like something you would get at a chain pub and just like one of those dishes designed to make £££ rather than being authentically Thai. 

The Ceviche Scallop was on another level. A very impressive dish, really fresh tasting and full of flavour. It was not too hot but had a little bit of a kick, Delicious. 

Sam - I would recommend ordering a couple of small plates from the Thai Reimagined menu to start.  So good! 

For our mains we both went for a different curry. Sam ordered the Sous Vide Beef Panang Curry and I went for the Royal Sous Vide Massaman Lamb Curry. 

The Lamb in my curry was so tender, I don't think I've had anything cooked Sous Vide before and it was incredible. The flavour of the curry was amazing as well so rich but slightly sweet with the coconut milk. I also really loved the crunch of the cashew nuts and crispy onions on top.

Sam was blown away by her Beef Panang Curry and said it was the best Thai food she had ever had and possibly the best curry she has had full stop. It was like a Red Thai Curry with a bit more heat, a very creamy, smooth sauce and the beef just melted in the mouth. A really outstanding dish.

We loved that both dishes had a lot of meat (some curries seem to be stingy on the meat). We were also really impressed with the service.  We were shown to our table really quickly and all of out food and drinks were served promptly. Our waiter was also helpful and very attentive throughout the meal, he was also hot on any allergies we had, asking three times during the meal just to make sure everything we ordered was going to be ok. The restaurant is beautifully decorated in a modern Thai style and even the toilets are to a high standard.

They had a special deal on in January where there was 50% off so our whole meal only came to £45 including tip. We had also got a Chaophraya Gift card from Sam's Mam for Christmas so it meant we only had to pay £20 ourselves so the whole night was a bargain.

Sam - it was a bit of a mixed bag for me. I would 100% go back and order another curry as htey are so packed with flavour and offer very good value. As mentioned though I would skip (the generic) starters and order a couple of small plates from the Thai Reimagined menu instead.  Chaophraya is also pretty expensive if you pay full price. They do run various offers throughout the year and these are something I would look out for before booking again. 

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