Thai tastes are so tantalisingly good

12:02pm Friday 31st October 2008

LEYTONSTONE High Road is not the first place that springs to mind when you’re looking for authentic Thai cuisine but with its glittering decor and fragrant aromas the Petch Sayam restaurant offers diners a deliciously authentic taste of the Orient.

Located just a short walk from the Central Line, bordered by uninviting cafes and scruffy charity shops, the Petch Sayam’s glitzy exterior shines like a welcoming beacon for hungry passers by.

Once we had finished viewing the splendid decor we settled down to order a bottle of the house white wine (a decent medium dry at £10.95) and a mixed starter which, when it arrived, more than justified its £10.95 price tag, comprising three huge platters of tempora vegetables, king prawns, satay chicken, spring rolls and prawn toast.

All of the dishes were crisp and deliciously flavoured, with tasty sweet chilli and peanut dips, though we did feel we had eaten more than our annual intake of saturated fat in one go.

Seeing us struggling, our attentive waitress topped up our glasses and allowed us a few minutes to digest and recover before bringing out our main courses.

Big portions are obviously a theme at Petch Sayam, because my Goong Kratiem (stir-fried king prawns) and my partner’s beef Pad Thai (beef with noodles) - both costing £7.95 - took up three quarters of the table.

The Goong Kratiem (£7.95) was full of large, succulent king prawns, while the sauce was delicately flavoured with garlic and coriander, and given a little heat with a pinch of black pepper.

The rice noodles in the Pad Thai (£6.95) were perfectly cooked, while the beef was tender and oozed with fresh garlic and tamarind, which merged seamlessly with the tangy fish sauce.

Both dishes were beautifully presented in large leaf-shaped dishes, with the Pad Thai sprinkled with fresh coriander and crushed peanuts.

Unaware of the portion sizes we also ordered a side dish of Kao Suey (steamed rice) for £1.75 which was light and fragrant, but surplus to requirements.

By the time we had polished off this gargantuan feast and another bottle of white wine, we had absolutely no room left to sample the wide range of exotic Thai sweets on offer - much to our disappointment.

Our meal, including drinks, came to just over £50, which we thought was more than reasonable.

AT A GLANCE

PETCH SAYAM

682 High Road,

Leytonstone,

London, E11 3AA

TELEPHONE: 8556 6821

OPENING HOURS: 6pm to 11pm Monday to Saturday, and 6.30pm to 10.30pm on Sundays. Lunch is on offer from 12pm to 2.30pm from Tuesday to Friday, and from 12.30pm to 2.30pm on Sunday.

ACCESS: Five minutes from Leytonstone Underground Station. Disabled access.