Blue Elephant
Above: Enjoy an exotic feast at the Blue Elephant
In keeping with the travel theme running throughout SW this month we took a trip to the Blue Elephant in SW6. The king of all Thai restaurants in the area, an evening in the Blue Elephant is like being transported to another country – well, continent. Waterfalls, features and carp-filled streams reveal themselves over walkways and small bridges amidst the luscious, glossy greenery all around you.
The menu matches the excitement of the enchanting interiors but my advice is, time permitting, to download the menu from the website and decide your order in advance. Not because service is slow
(choreographed service saw food be delivered, drinks be poured and plates be cleared away regularly, not rushed) but because the choice of Thai cuisine offered is immense.
Main courses, such as crocodile and fresh lime sea bass with crushed chilli (hot hot hot, as indicated by three elephant icons), herald huge temptations. Nua Phad Phirk – another triple-elephant offering of stir-fried sirloin with Thai aubergines – sounds equally appealing. Alternatively, you could opt for the Royal Thai Banquet menu, a set menu that offers ‘A Little of Everything’ to share – in true Thai style – as Gavin and I did on busy Thursday evening in March.
The banquet allows you to sample paper prawns, samui crab (with minced chicken), moreish dim sim pork parcels, refreshing som tam salad, spring rolls and chicken satay with a selection of delectable dips – and that’s just to start.
You have an option of two soups (two or three elephant-rated) before the main spread of chu-chu pla salmon, stir-fried chicken with pineapple and cashew nuts, exotically sweet tamarind duck, gigantic fresh black pepper tiger prawns, and, my personal favourite, tender lamb massaman. It can be an expensive and extravagant night out (it’s possible to spend £1,700 on a bottle of Château Petrus Pomerol), but it’s an experience not to be missed.
Dinner for two plus wine £100
3-6 Fulham Broadway, London, SW6 1AA; 020 7385 6595; www.blueelephant.com