A Taste of Thailand in Plymouth Market is a perhaps not a spot that you might imagine you might find yourself seeking out for a meal, yet hidden away in plain sight this market cafe is serving excellent classic Thai food to the good people of Plymouth and to passers by like ourselves who just want a bowlful of something really good.

Every time we visit Plymouth market A Taste of Thailand is always mobbed, busy with people crowded around all four corners of the unit perched on stools up at the counter top

Today it was our turn and as we sat contemplating our options from the various noodle dishes, soups, curries, stir fries and rice dishes we saw all sorts of fabulous looking dishes coming out from the kitchen. It was really hard to choose!

CHICKEN SATAY

To get things started we ordered a side of the Chicken Satay skewers with peanut sauce. this was a totally unintentional and unplanned decision brought about solely due to both groups of people on either side of us also ordering some.

Once I had see those plump crispy fried chicken breasts and the pot of vibrant yellow sauce I could not restrain myself from joining in to the chicken satay party.

These were really good and for £4 you got three of them and a really creamy nutty peanut dip. I could have easily demolished all three myself but with noodle soup incoming reluctantly I knew it was one to share on this occasion

THAI NOODLE SOUP

I was here for soup noodles which meant that there was just one dish I was interested in and that was the Thai Noodle Soup described as Rice noodles and cabbage cooked in Thai soup on top of a bed of beansprouts, garnished with nuts, pickled turnips, fried garlic, spring onion and coriander

I only had one decision to make and that was my choice of protein picking between chicken, beef or pork (I suspect tofu and prawns were also options). I selected chicken as I thought it was the easiest.

THAI CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP

First thoughts were that it was a massive bowl of food to be eating at lunchtime, second thoughts were that I would give it a go, and third thoughts were ‘where is the coriander?’ apparently they ran out.

I liked the broth, it was a little rich and a little sweet and to be honest was tastiest before I mixed everything together and before the flavours of the contents had time to steep and seep into the soup.

There was plenty of chicken, a lot of green cabbage, and enough noodles to fill me up. The scattering of nuts on top was generous and apart from all the bits that got stuck in my teeth it was a welcomed addition to the bowl.

I didn’t really miss the coriander as there was a lot of cabbage and chopped spring onion to add a fresh crunch as I worked my way through the bowl

KHAI SOI (CURRY NOODLE)

My partner in dine ordered the Khao Soi (Chiang Mai Noodle Curry) which was a Curry made with coconut milk, turmeric powder and onions poured on crispy egg noodles topped with coriander. Again the protein choices were Chicken, Beef or Pork and the choice of the day was to be Chicken

We didn’t expect it to be a soup dish and there was a lot more liquid to slurp than anticipated. It was a good broth though perhaps a bit sweet from the coconut and dangerously yellow if you were wearing anything at risk from soup spillage.

The crispy egg noodles were indeed ‘crispy’ so there was a good textural element to the initial bites, however as the journey through the meal continued they did soften up in the heat of the broth so were much more slurpable towards the end.

It was another large bowlful of food and we got the idea that they are pretty generous with their portions here at A Taste of Thailand!

At £8 for each main dish this place was an absolute belter value wise and if I lived in Plymouth I would be back time and time again. The mix of people dining here was really diverse it wasn’t just the local Asian commuity it was like the whole of Plymouth was taking advantage, families, professionals, retired people, workmen, I can imagine a Father Christmas might be dining over the holiday period. It was a place for everyone and anyone.

A Taste of Thailand is located at 101/102 Market Avenue in Plymouth City Market, Plymouth, PL1 1PS they are open when the market is open Monday to Saturday 10.30am to 4.30 pm (3.30pm on Wednesday)

If you want to check them out on Socials they have a Facebook page where you can see the menu (also see pics below)

MENU