I was once a very fussy eater. Now I enjoy food much more and am considerably less fussy and more open to trying new things than I ever was as a child. However, I’m still not a fan of spicy food. Sometimes even something classified as ‘medium’ is a little too much for me, and I’m always cautious of anything that contains chilli. For this reason, I have pretty much avoided Thai food as I had heard of its reputation for being spicy. Khao San Road had been recommended to me by a variety of people, so when a friend suggested going, I decided that it was worth a shot.
As I usually do before I visit somewhere new, I decided to check the menu online to see what was on offer. Initially, I was concerned that their spice scale started with medium-hot, however closer inspection of the menu showed that there would be several options that would appeal to me, and didn’t have a ‘spice marker’ next to them so would probably be fairly mild. Suddenly I was a lot more interested in trying out Thai food.
We were working on a budget, and neither of us were massively hungry so we only had a main course each. If you are planning on having more than one course there are a selection of different starters, although the dessert menu is dominated by different types of fritters! Chloe, who is a bigger fan of spicy food than I am, opted for one of the red curries (as this was a while ago I’m afraid I can’t remember which one!) which came served on a long platter with rice and salad. Apparently it was delicious.
I opted for Chicken Kow Pad Sapparod, which was fried rice with curry powder, onions, peppers, pineapple, cashew nuts, spring onions and chicken. It was very tasty and aromatic rather than spicy, which suited me perfectly. It was slightly salty, but this went very well with the chunks of pineapple which were interspersed throughout the dish. It was also very filling, which is why I didn’t feel the need for dessert. I would quite happily have it again, and if I were to go to another Thai restaurant I would look for something similar.
Due to the popularity of Khao San Road, it opened a sister restaurant called Rice Style in 2013. They do have slightly different menus so I would advise checking before you go – Rice Style seems to have fewer mild dishes. Khao San Road is popular so I would advise booking in advance, particularly if you are going to eat at a weekend. I thoroughly enjoyed the meal and would happily go again. It has also made me feel less nervous about trying Thai food in the future.
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