017_LS499_food _015_LS466_food 29/10/2010 13:41 Page 1
ANDREW KAY’S FOOD & DRINK 17
Food & Drink Andrew Kay gets his laughing gear around Thai Tapas at Brighton’s Giggling Squid
Thai me down A
nyone who knows me well will tell you I am the most terrible giggler. You need only say the word ticklish near me and I’m off. It’s not funny either. Well, it is funny in as much as I am laughing, but it hurts and it makes me cry. When I saw the signs going up for Giggling Squid it also made me laugh. I loved the name and hoped I would love the food too. Over the last few months or so I have popped in several times and given the menu a bit of a thrashing. The idea of taking the word tapas and applying it to different cuisines is not one that always works. I have been served ‘tapas’ that in my book were nothing of the sort. They were simply mean portions of food that could only work when served in generous measures. But at Giggling Squid the concept works well. I guess, in part, this is because some of the dishes are indeed street foods that you would buy at the roadside and eat whilst on the hoof. Not that I have been to Thailand and done that, but I have a rather romantic vision that this is how one would eat in strange countries. I did it in India quite successfully without getting food poisoning and I once had a portion of mushy peas with mint sauce in a Nottingham market.
Mr R, on seeing I had the Starving option, went for the Hungry Squid Tapas Set. I could immediately see why as his came with rice (he is a keen fan of a definite carbohydrate element to any meal). On his platter chicken satay was delivered with more of the tasty little spring rolls and a Thai chicken green curry with the much wanted rice. It put a very large smile on his face... But not as large as the smile generated by the ice cream we had to follow. The owners have sourced ice cream from Boho Gelato in The Lanes. Not happy with anything available off the shelf or from wholesalers, Giggling Squid challenged Boho to create ice cream exclusively for them. We tried a sorbet of lemon and ginger, which was a superb burst of zinging freshness and perfect in texture too. It did that clever thing of cleansing the palate and also feeling like a proper pudding. But top marks go to a black sesame seed ice cream. It was the strangest of colours, a pale, slightly lavenderish grey speckled with black seeds. But my word did it deliver in flavour – not great thumping flavour but perfectly balanced sweet nuttiness. I must say the chef, who is a charming lady, goes to great lengths to make every dish look superb. There are carved vegetables at every turn and they are good ones too, not the familiar crude, rose-shaped carrot. But if I had one criticism it would be that the ice cream was over decorated and would have tasted and looked better left to its own devices. Sorry if that sounds mean but it really doesn’t need anything with it. So full marks to Giggling Squid. I look forward to trying more dishes from their very reasonably priced menu in the evenings when the platters are not available. Giggling Squid: 11 Market Street, Brighton BN1 1HH, 01273 737373 129 Church Road, Hove BN3 2AE, 01273 771991 The George Hotel, 58 High Street, Crawley, RH10 1BS, 01293 530455 Where is the best ice cream in Brighton? andrew@thelatest.co.uk follow me on twitter
Giggling Squid looks good too. It has a clean, modern look that ignores their national taste for all thing that glister on a background of vibrant vermillion. Drift wood is the key motif and it’s done well. At lunchtime the menu offers platters of pre-selected tapas. It’s a great idea, I nearly always order too “When Thai beef much when dining this way and certainly do when dining alone. I salad is made well it’s always want to try a selection of one of the sexiest dishes and it simply isn’t possible when dining solo. The Giggling Squid platters are an ideal solution and, I dishes I know and this have to say, are extremely good was pretty damn sexy” value too. We settled in on a very windy Sunday afternoon and started with two Diet Cokes; how good is that? Well, not good if you have a hatred of diet cola but great if, like me, you love the real thing served in bottles. The menu is easy to deal with. You can choose tapas al la caret or go for a tapas set. I read through and discovered that for a very reasonable £7.50 the Starving Squid Tapas Set had everything I wanted. I love Thai beef salad – that irresistible mix of fish sauce and chilli with fresh mint and coriander poured over slices of rare beef. When it’s made well it’s one of the sexiest dishes I know and this was pretty damn sexy. I am also equally enamoured of salt and pepper squid. There was plenty of it too and it was crisp and tender. Thai spring rolls and dumplings were also delicious, once again crisp and piping hot, but above all tasting clean, demonstrating that the oil used in the kitchen was absolutely fresh.
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