Something different for dinner? How about a Thai Pizza? But who is culturally appropriating who? Nick finds out where his loyalties lie.
Thai Pizzas. On the face of it, this doesn’t sound like a good idea to me. But I said that about Prawn Cocktail crisps and Cheezy Peas, so what do I know?
I do like Thai food and I do like pizzas, so I had to try this unusual mash up now served at Thai Square Minories in a downstairs section dedicated to the initiative. Somehow they’ve managed to get a full size pizza oven down there, which is impressive.
It’s called Bangkok Mama and it’s loud and leery with primary colours, and edgy copy written, I suspect, by a content creator high on Red Bull..
Essentially it’s curry on pizza base, rather than on rice. There’s quite a choice, from Gang Panang with beef or prawn over a panang curry paste, coconut milk, peppers and kaffir lime leaves, to Bangkok Piccante which is rather like a traditional pad kra pao with soy sauce, birds eye chillies, onions, pepper, crispy basil with the beef or tofu and a fried egg on top.
For those feeling fragile after a night out, The Tom Yum Goong Crisis or ‘Mama’s hangover cure’ comes with mozzarella, roasted chilli oil, tom yum herbs and coriander. Or how about Smokey Satay Chicken or Green Curry Chicken?
We decided to go a bit more Thai traditional first with a side/starter of Laab Spring Rolls that were pretty good, crispy and not oily. Plus some Fried Dim Sum, which were perfectly ok, if not terribly exciting. I kind of wish we’d tried the Cheesy Golden Triangles filled with mashed potato, carrot and sweetcorn. Anyway, on to the pizzas.
K loves prawns so the Gang Panang was an easy choice. It was reassuring to see the classic sourdough base present and correct with lots of good blistering and bubbles. It wasn’t exactly crisp, except around those edges, but then how could it be with a curry on top?
In fact, like my own choice, the Bangkok Piccante, it was still possible to pick up a slice without it all collapsing, but a knife and fork worked better. This is okay, as most fresh Neapolitan pizza is soft in the centre and Italians will begin with cutlery, not least because their pizzas do not come ready cut.
He was dead happy with his and I liked mine a lot although it was not very piccante. I assumed, being Thai, I’d encounter lots of fresh bird’s eye chillies but in fact there seemed to be none. I mentioned it to the waitress and she said they kept the heat down as the sauce was made in bulk, and not everyone could handle a load of chili. I was going to ask ‘why call it piccante then?’ but didn’t. Instead I ladled on some chili oil from the table
I had the fried egg option on mine, the egg could have done with proper crispy brown edges, but otherwise it was a good addition. We both agreed the pizza bases were excellent. They are made using Wildfarmed sourdough base, a 100% British wheat grown using regenerative farming.
We ate everything down to and including the crusts, but only I had the space to try the Fried Tiramisu Gelato, another dish to get the Italian embassy on their case. It was rather good, the cold tiramisu and the hot fried outer working well together.
This is not subtle food, it’s food to fill you up and it’s pretty tasty with it. The bench tables cry out for eating with your ‘squad’ ( isn’t that what youngsters say now Ed?) at lunch or of an evening, and there’s dine-in, collection and delivery available via Deliveroo.
Thai Pizza? Why not try?
thaisq.com