Rosa’s Thai is a small chain of Thai restaurants that laid its roots in London’s East End in 2008, ostensibly retaining the Rosa’s name from the previous occupant as a nod to the site’s heritage, though more truthfully one suspects that the cost of rebranding might have informed that priority too. The following few years saw the Rosa’s team, led by Chef Saiphin, take the opportunity to open a few more sites around London and they’ve since ridden that momentum to around two dozen sites, the latest of which is Rosa’s Thai York. The Coney Street site that it now occupies has been vacant for some time but has been sympathetically turned into a light and welcoming casual dining space that isn’t afraid to make a feature of the wooden beamed walls which give this building its identity.

The menu at Rosa’s Thai York features plenty of Thai staples centred around curries, noodles and salads and doesn’t stray far from tradition, and there’s no arguing about value with main dishes hardly breaching £15 when augmented with a portion of rice. Dining on a Tuesday lunch time, things were relatively quiet, but with the steady stream of delivery riders collecting their payloads and an increasing number of lunch guests throughout our visit, one got the impression that it won’t take long for Rosa’s to gain a foothold. With a table by the window and a cold Thai beer for company, we’d have been happy killing time people-watching, but service was brisk without being pressured and soon enough the table was groaning under the weight of the dishes we’d ordered.

First up was a starter platter comprised of prawn crackers, spring rolls, calamari, pork and chicken skewers and a few dipping sauces. At £15 this would have made a pleasant lunch for one to graze on but the quantities were well judged to give a couple of diners a decent exploration of the starters. Everything hit the spot and particularly noteworthy were the crisp, well-seasoned prawn crackers and dipping sauces with an unusual depth flavour. A touch more marinade on the skewers would have further elevated things but this opening salvo was warmly received.

As our mains accumulated on the table, the extent of our over-ordering really became apparent with Pad-Thai, marinated aubergine, red curry and a side of rice, all looking increasingly like they would, in part at least, be accompanying us home. Pad Thai can easily degenerate into an over-sweetened and generic dish but, topped here with a fried egg, this example had a neat savoury note and enough breadth of flavour to make it a comfort worth repeat order. Marinated aubergine lived up to their 3 chilli billing with a bold stab of heat that required overwhelming with cold beer to counter my low tolerance for spice, but it still delivered nuance with sweet basil, soy and yellow bean all apparent. Our final main of red curry did everything I hoped it would with an undercurrent of fish sauce underpinning a well developed dish with plenty of chilli and tender chicken thigh.

There’s a lot of competition for Thai food in the York casual dining market that can make it tricky for a new entrant to distinguish itself, but with a strong sense of value underpinning quality dishes, Rosa’s Thai has done just that. This site on Coney St has been looking rather sorry for itself since the closure of Joe’s Kitchen so the tasteful going over that Rosa’s Thai has given it really feels like it represents more green shoots of growth, improving the visual appeal from St Helen’s square and adding a new dining experience to the city.

(disclaimer – pr visit)

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Rosa’s Thai started as a market stall on London’s Brick Lane in 2007, where Thai chef Saiphin Moore served up family recipes to hungry lunchtime crowds. A year later, Saiphin and her entrepreneur husband Alex opened the first Rosa’s Thai restaurant in Spitalfields, just around the corner from the market stall.

The launch of Rosa’s Thai York marks the 29th opening for the group. The restaurant will be headed up by long-standing Rosa’s team members – and husband and wife duo – GM Mumu and head chef Moi, who have been an integral part of the Rosa’s Thai family since its launch in Leeds back in 2019.

Rosa’s Thai’s signature dishes are made using the best of Thai produce, including chilli pastes from a husband and wife team in the Huai Yod district and rice noodles from a 3rd generation family business that has made noodles for over 80 years. Menu highlights include familiar Thai dishes including fan-favourite pad Thai and comforting green curry, as well as Rosa’s cult favourites from drunken noodles to stir-fried aubergine with yellow bean sauce, chilli, soy sauce & sweet basil. 

The menu offers plenty of meat-free options for vegetarian and vegan diners, from fluffy sweetcorn cakes with kaffir lime to rich butternut red curry with sweet basil. Rosa’s Thai also offers a dedicated children’s menu and a varied selection of halal and gluten-free dishes which, complete with Rosa’s signature Thai hospitality, makes the restaurant a welcoming, go-to environment for all dietary requirements. 

To celebrate the launch Rosa’s Thai is offering diners 50% off their food bill on 30 and 31 May, giving York guests the opportunity to enjoy founder Saiphin Moore’s signature Thai dishes before the restaurant officially opens its doors. Bookings are highly recommended.

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Sticky Mango in Waterloo has been on my list for a couple of years now after some strong recommendations brought it to my attention, particularly as the pricing seemed very fair for a decent meal in London. It was an easy choice to get a booking sorted and arrange to catch up with a couple of old school friends who commute from Milton Keynes, where I was brought up in the distant past. Sticky Mango London is owned by Peter Lloyd who built a strong reputation prior to taking it over, having completed stages with Pierre Koffmann, Gordon Ramsay and Marco Pierre White as well as stints in various reputed kitchens. It’s clear that the intention here is to marry great value to big flavours which inspire plenty of repeat custom: should be a pretty open goal in London if the balance is right.

The restaurant is just a short walk from Waterloo station and immediately identifiable from the large mural of Anthony Bourdain that dominates the front of the building along with a quote from the much missed chef and author. The rest of the signage is attractive enough to draw you in without dominating the street unduly, though things ramp up a notch when you climb the stairs to the dining room which is dominated by a vibrant pink blossom tree. Sadly we didn’t have time to go through the whole tasting menu but the a la carte is perfectly broad enough and gave plenty for our table of 3 to go at. We started with steamed edamame in a truffle teriyaki dressing, chicken and shrimp rolls and some crab dumplings in a laksa sauce that I’d had my eye on. For mains we agreed on glazed duck, whole seabass and a green vegetable curry while we made doubly sure our collective appetite would be met with sides of crispy baby potatoes and truffled egg fried rice.

Our server was hitting the balance between formality and conviviality nicely by this point, delivering our dishes and drinks promptly without any sense of being rushed, the edamame beans arriving first to make a mess of our hands while we extracted the beans from their pods and made sure to alert every party at the table to discard the casings before too many had been consumed. The chicken and shrimp rolls went above and beyond, paired with fresh crisp leaves and a lively dipping sauce, but the stand out starter was the quartet of crab dumplings. These could have easily been overwhelmed by the punch of the laksa sauce but everything on the plate rubbed along very well indeed with the crab still making itself heard and quail egg bringing a touch of delicacy to presentation.

Expectations were high after those first few plates and further met by the dishes that followed with duck first to make an appearance. The meat, which had been confit and roasted, shredded with virtually no effort and paired nicely with the fresh watermelon for a neat contrast of texture, flavour and taste that was extremely satisfying. The seabass lived up to the promise of being boneless, requiring only the slightest effort to get at the meat and was sharpened up nicely with some pickled veg. The green curry made use of okra as a neat point of difference that set it aside from more commonly found examples of this dish, a reassuring suggestion of the effort going into flavour making and presentation. Crispy baby potatoes were dressed with peanut, mayonnaise and plenty of spring onion that kept us picking at them until the plate was empty but the truffled leek rice was the star of the side dishes, topped with a fried egg that the server mixed through the rice at the table. The hit of truffle went particularly neatly with the duck and the fresh watermelon…and frankly what dish isn’t improved by the addition of a fried egg?

Sadly by this point I was in serious danger of missing my return train to York, which actually turned out to be a four hour odyssey of discomfort all to reminiscent of the worst days of our mass transport network, so dessert had to be skipped and I sadly missed the establishment’s titular dish. Being back in London and catching up with old friends had put me in a more forgiving mood but I didn’t need to draw down on any of that good will for this meal. I’d expected Sticky Mango to offer bold flavours, a kick of originality and good value and it delivered on that with great aplomb.

(Disclaimer – PR meal)

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My experiences of the Zaap Thai branch in York have been very good but the standard of the ready meals really impressed me, particularly given the abbreviated timeframe in which they were introduced, so their entry into the recipe box market was intriguing. The Ban’s Kitchen recipe kit boxes are each designed to offer a particular Thai dish and clock in between £19 and £26 plus shipping. I plumped for the Massaman kit and looked forward to getting cooking. The kit includes the majority of the fresh ingredients you need, though you need to add your own protein, garnishes, stock and rice. It’s noteworthy that the quantity of the dry ingredients delivered are far, far in excess of what’s needed for one meal though, which comfortably compensates for the slightly curious absence of rice.

The instructions included with the Ban’s Kitchen recipe box are durable enough to last a good few cooking sessions worth of spills and easy enough to follow without the need to extend one’s mental facilities too far. I augmented the included potato, carrot and onion with some chicken breast and after a very manageable amount of chopping, stirring, cooking and simmering I was ready to dish up and garnish with generous amounts of coriander (I’ll hear nothing against the stuff). The results lived up to the promise of enabling us to “cook the perfect Massaman curry at home” with the mild balance of sweet, salty and tangy well achieved and comfortably competing with takeaways or restaurant dishes. I was even compelled to ponce the rice into a bit of a shape to serve.

In all honesty ‘recipe kit’ is something of a misnomer here. While it includes some of the fresh ingredients needed to bring the meal to the table, the quantity of the dry ingredients will let you cook the same dish repeatedly with the addition of onions, potatoes, carrots and your choice of protein. The building blocks of curry paste, fish sauce, palm sugar and star anise will envelope many more than the included coconut milk. It’s almost more appropriate to describe this as a ‘Thai store cupboard in a box’ with a convenient recipe thrown in. I’ve made Massaman from this on more occasions than I can bring to mind now, it suiting leftover turkey particularly well, and absolutely recommend trying it for yourself if you’re missing Thai meals out at the moment.

Disclaimer: PR Sample with no charge.

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Zaap Thai expanded its reach to York in September 2019, taking over the site formally occupied by Gourmet Burger Kitchen and kitting it out with a relaxed, informal street food vibe and dishing up reasonably priced Thai classics to a keen audience. As with so many other businesses though, the last three months have been all about finding ways to shift to business models that are both sustainable and reflect the hospitality experience as best possible outside of the restaurant setting. Zaap Thai’s response to this is a range of frozen meals under the Ban’s Kitchen brand, allowing you to enjoy Zaap Thai style food countrywide and at your convenience, rather than in the close proximity to an existing branch as a conventional takeaway offering would demand.

The Ban’s Kitchen range is reasonably broad, covering a good few favourites and a couple of starters that justify a bulk order to stock up with. With the amount of demands on my time inversely proportional to the nation’s collective terror, things are starting to pick up again but waiting for a delivery looks unlikely to return to being the imposition it once was for a while yet. Upon receipt we went straight into lunch thanks to fortuitous timing, picking out Pad Nam Prik Pao Gai and jasmine rice along with some Moo Yang pork skewers that had been marinated oyster sauce and honey. By the time I’d chucked some spring onions and coriander leaves over the top this certainly looked the part, and thankfully it wasn’t all mouth and no trousers with a good bite of heat and generous spicing backed against sticky rice.

Pad Thai ended up being thrown down quickly enough to unfairly limit its full potential but that didn’t stop my appreciating it after a particularly demanding 3 hours spent persuading Baby Fork that sleep would be appropriate. The hottest dish I was sent was a Pad Gaprao Gai that merited a full three chilli rating on the strengthometer, piquing my curiosity regarding how extreme the spicing would be. Thankfully it only mildly went further than my comfort zone and the jasmine rice rounded it off nicely. With this one, I fancied a couple of spring rolls so popped them into my deep fat fryer and only took 6 minutes to cook from frozen. It’s worth noting that you need need a fryer to cook these at home, but if you have one they’re so simple to bring to the plate and have a far more convincing, crispy texture than oven reheated supermarket equivalents.

The last leg of this Thai marathon was a Massaman with more jasmine rice that felt deserving of a few more spring rolls and pork skewers on the side. The tone that had been set was just as evident in this meal and it hit all the right Massaman notes; rich and rewarding without much in the way of spice.

Ban’s Kitchen might be a touch pricier than your average “takeaway in a bag” type supermarket offering but they’re appreciably better, standing up against a conventional takeaway very well indeed. In fact the last Thai takeaway I had was a bit under-par, making the comparison all the more stark. Bear in mind it’s worth reading the instructions before you order though lest you end up unable to deep fry your spring rolls by dint of lacking a deep fat fryer, which was the most specialist bit of kit needed to prepare what I was sent. While we’re starting to see a few green shoots of normality creep back into our lives (whether or not they’re about to be brutally trimmed is another matter), it’s hard to see a reason to cut off services such as this one as our society finds its new standards. Zaap have, in remarkably short order, come up with a range of frozen ready meals that stand up as a product range in their own right. Having a couple of these lurking in the freezer is, and will remain a great shortcut to a tasty Thai meal whenever the urge takes you.

Disclaimer: No charge was made for these meals, opinions are impartial.

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The new restaurant is located at 7 Lendal in the city centre and follows hot on the heels of the success Zaap has enjoyed with their Leeds, Nottingham and Newcastle ventures. The space previously occupied by Gourmet Burger Kitchen will be completely transformed into a venue that will appear as though it has been lifted straight from the bustling markets of Bangkok. 

Funky tuk tuks Guests can expect Thai-inspired graffiti, funky tuk tuks, neon lighting, hanging motorbikes and an electric atmosphere that pays homage to the iconic capital city. And, then there’s the food. With over 80 mouth-watering dishes to choose from, ranging from mild to hot as hell, there’s a new favourite dish with your name written all over it. 

Thai street food classics on offer include the fragrant Gang Ped Thai Red Curry and the meaty Hoy Tod Crispy Pan-Fried Mussel Pancakes. The fast and affordable food menu also offers visitors the chance to take a gamble and try something new and exotic, such as the Pla Tod Gratium Deep Fried Whole Sea Bass or the vegetarian delight of the Som Tum Thai Spicy Papaya Salad with peanuts. 

New jobs in York
The new opening will create around 30 new jobs in York, ranging from management to waiting staff. Zaap Thai is part of the Sukho Group, who currently have 7 different restaurants in their portfolio. Head Chef and Owner Ban was born in Thailand and moved to the UK around 20 years ago with a dream of bringing her country’s unique flavours to a new audience. 

She opened her first Sukhothai restaurant 17 years ago in Leeds and has grown the accessible Thai fine-dining brand into the Yorkshire institution that it is today, boasting four venues across the country. The first Zaap landed in Leeds back in 2015, becoming an instant smash with those looking for a more casual approach to Southeast Asian cuisine. 

Zaap will offer a range of unbeatable lunch menus and daily deals, which will change on a monthly basis. The midweek lunch menu presents diners with the choice of 2-courses for £10, or 3 for £12.95 and runs between Monday and Friday from 11am – 6pm. Curry Monday allows customers to grab a curry and a beer for just £10 all day, while Pad Thai Tuesday’s offer the bestselling dish with a beer or soft drink for the same budget-friendly price. 

Asian cocktail creations 
The drinks menu spans beers ranging from Singha to Tsingtao, authentic Bubble Teas and a collection of delicious Asian cocktail creations. Zaap have also just launched a menu of non-alcoholic summer drinks, including refreshing iced drinks and smoothies. 

Owner Ban had this to say ahead of the York opening:

“We have been searching for a suitable spot to bring Zaap to York for 2 years now, and I believe we’ve found the perfect home at 7 Lendal. 20 years ago, I could never have imagined just where my dreams would take me, but it turns out that the UK has welcomed Thai food with open arms.’’

“We cannot wait to introduce Zaap to the people of York and look forward to inviting them in for an authentic taste of Thailand, where street food is not just a meal, but a way of life.”

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Hosted in Lambert Yard, Nawamin had put together a menu featuring twists on various traditional dishes. Everything seemed under control when we arrived, so I grabbed the chance to have a chat with the man himself before service and hear about how he was dovetailing activities such as this with having just completed his Phd – clearly Nawamin’s ambitions are as broad as his smile!

We were served a five course menu that featured Naked Noodle products in each dish, starting with a traditional Duck and Hoisin Spring roll with noodles spread through the confit duck filling. Subsequent courses featured baby squid stuffed with a powerful green curry sauce and salmon roe and a Naked Rice Japanese curry arancini served with a pork croquette and katsu sauce.

Sadly we were going to have to make a run for a train before the dessert made an appearance, but we still found time to enjoy a chilli beef, ox cheek and Thai basil ramen that packed a decent punch. We had a lovely evening washing that lot down with Chang beer and it was a real pleasure to meet Nawamin. I hope to see his continuing success and to meet more memorable and friendly Masterchef contestants in the future!

Disclaimer: No charge was made for attendance at this event. Opinions are impartial

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It’s clear that a lot of effort and money has been put into the venue, both in the restaurant and the nicely appointed rooms, each of which is decorated to reflect an area in Thailand. The rooms also benefit from some remarkably elaborately folded towels, a skill I can’t imagine where I’d begin to learn!

To start things off, we had a chat to a chef as he prepared a Som Tum (papaya salad) to our tastes, adding plenty of lime, chilli, dried shrimp and garlic. The salad was remarkably light and refreshing, a perfect way to spark off our taste buds before we hit the buffet. It’s not unfair to say that a hot buffet doesn’t offer the most opportunity to exhibit a restaurant’s skills, but everything we tried hit the right notes. Prawn balls and spring rolls were light and well seasoned while the jasmine rice, yellow curry, Massaman and other Thai staples were well executed.

We enjoyed the evening and I’ve every intention of popping back and checking out the a la carte menu to see what Thai Season by Pritsana can do without the constraints of a buffet for a large event.

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When we arrived on a Saturday evening, it became clear that this place was starting to build a reputation. I’d foregone bothering to book a table on the, apparently incorrect, assumption that a newish restaurant wouldn’t be packed out, so when we arrived at half six we were only seated on the basis that the table would be needed back in an hour. With no time for too much debate, we ordered some beers and only a few plates, fearing that we wouldn’t be able to pack too much into a brief sitting.

Thankfully service was quick given our compressed timeframe and plates were despatched from the kitchen quickly. We opted for some steamed rice and stir fried broccoli to accompany plates of lamb red curry, “Legendary” crispy pork belly and salmon tartare that were well presented if a little bit of a squeeze on the small table for two. The highlight was the beautifully balanced pork belly that had been simply paired with some wilted greens and packed in plenty of garlic to go with its oyster sauce dressing.

The lamb curry was less exciting but well executed and as richly flavoured as one would hope. The salmon tartare came well presented with a bed of cucumber, a small salad and a dressing to soften the spice as needed. The plate would have benefited from a bit of a wipe to remove excess moisture but the shallot, salmon and chilli worked well together along with the egg yolk to bring together a lovely, though aggressively spiced, dish.

Having hit our time limit, we settled a very reasonable £40 hit to the pocket and left very happy. The small plate thing has its critics, but if you’re happy with things arriving as they’re prepared, Thai food lends itself well to this style of dining, so we’ll certainly be back to Phranakhon to investigate the menu in more depth.

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Sunday afternoon and I’m enjoying an ice cream in Trinacria before a bit of a stroll round town. A little bit of digging on Facebook suggests there’s a restaurant opening around the corner so, interest piqued, it was obviously time to wander to the nearest pub with a copy of Private Eye. There’s little point in kicking off action for dinner when you’re full of ice cream after all.

We settled into the rhythm of the place while quickly agreeing that steamed pork dumplings would be the right way to start things off and got a Thai Chang beer rolling. Friendly service exceeded expectations while an open kitchen reassured.

The steamed pork dumplings were superb, well seasoned and interesting without falling into the anglicized trap of coriander overload. A bed of salad cut through with spring onions backed the flavours up without feeling the need to drench itself in one dimensional sauces.

With the pace of the meal picking up to reflect the My Thai streetfood vibe, main courses appeared in short order. Duck with flat noodles and glass noodles served with seafood and pork appeared in significant portions and were beautifully presented.

Having only been open a couple of weeks, the atmosphere wasn’t yet buzzing but customers were in situ and happy, an experience we were sharing.

The flat noodles with duck were superb: face-filling, lip-smearing and spiking all the flavours one expects without the meat being dried out or meagre in quantity – likely to be a repeat order. The glass noodles with pork and seafood require a little more qualification: equally generous in quantity and well-executed, everything looked the part until my ability to cope with spice stepped in. Flavours were entirely on the money, but I just couldn’t cope and left Mrs YoaF to deal with the collateral damage, a task she worked through with characteristic fortitude.

A starter, two mains, and a couple of beers tipped the scales at just over thirty quid. Entirely fair given the portioning. My Thai isn’t somewhere to linger for lots of courses and delicate side dishes, but for a friendly town centre spot to get an informal spot of dinner, it’s perfect.

Going back to that super spicy dish, I feel the need to raise two points. As previously documented, I’m rubbish with spice. That’s not to say I didn’t appreciate the flavours. As an experiment, I dropped the leftovers in at my local pub for a second opinion from a trusted friend. He and his girlfriend dealt with the spice just fine, make of that what you will. Perhaps a clearer guidance on spice would let punters customise their dishes with accuracy.

The real question is though… does it deliver? In the most literal sense, I’ve no idea. I forgot to ask, and it’s not obvious from social media. In terms of flavour… yup. Go get stuck in. Is it my Thai? Yep, looks like it.

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