Giggling Squid; Guildford, Surrey & nationwide

When I travelled through South-East Asia I fell in love with Thailand; the culture, the history, the people and of course the wonderful, flavoursome food!

I thoroughly embraced the 'floating' markets (read more here) & street food available at every turn that is honestly some of the best in the world. Plus I learnt a huge amount about cooking Thai food at one of my all-time favourite cooking classes (read more here) in an attempt to be able to recreate it at home.

It will come as no surprise then that I like to seek out Thai restaurants and one of the best I have found is Giggling Squid. A small 'chain', the restaurants located across the Midlands & South of England launched in Brighton with the mission to produce simple, authentic Thai tapas-style dishes that could be shared by diners. Their menu achieves this by offering up plenty of sharing options for a true Thai dining experience.

The restaurants are beautifully styled, with fabulous service staff who make the experience relaxed & enjoyable. Each restaurant has its individual style; in Guildford I loved the contrast of the muted and the inclusion of lots of natural woods, textures and flowers. There was a sense of intimacy in the restaurant, but it also has spaces perfect for a group dining.

There are plenty of starters to choose from, and as they all sound delicious it's really hard to pick one! Luckily they often have an offer for multiple dishes and in keeping with the ethos of the dining experience my friends were thankfully very happy to share a selection! The menu changes often as well, so next time I visit I can't wait to try some more of them.

The chicken satay skewers were fantastic; marinated in creamy coconut milk, lemongrass & turmeric with a flavour packed peanut sauce. When the restaurant is called Giggling Squid, it would be rude not to try a squid dish & there were two to choose from on this occasion. We opted for the grilled squid topped with crispy Thai garlic which had so much flavour packed into a simple dish.

The crunchy duck & lychee bites were really refreshing and different to any dish I had seen on a Thai menu before. A mix of duck, star fruit and lychees is presented on a crispy toasted rice disc which gives the perfect contrast of textures and flavours.

The Betel leaf & ginger lime salmon morsels were my favourite of the starters. A little messy, as you eat it with your hands, these combine sweet, salty, spicy and fresh flavours all in one bite! The salmon is mixed with lemongrass, lime, ginger, chillies and roasted coconut on the betel leaf with another fantastic dipping sauce.

Following all of the starters we continued to share our mains as well, we all just wanted to try as much of the delicious food as we could! The first dish selected was the giant butterfly king prawn Pad Thai. This dish stuck to the classic flavours, with additional chillies, peanuts and toppings on the side for personal taste combined with some of the largest king prawns I have eaten! This definitely made it something special compared to the regular chicken versions.

I always enjoy a good chicken Penang Curry and was glad to try the Giggling Squid version. A form of red curry this dish is thickened with coconut milk with a hit of fresh citrus zestiness & fragrance from lime leaves. This was delicious with jasmine rice as a side and I wish I could make a sauce like this at home as it's addictively good!

My standout of the evening was the Rising Star red curry. Infamous across Thailand, this dish once again used an alternative protein of a succulent duck breast to make it shine . The red curry sauce is mouth-watering & is rounded out by the bitterness of pea aubergines and pops of freshness from the star fruit and lychees within the dish. Honestly, I would come back time and time again just for this dish!

Giggling Squid is set to remain a favourite restaurant of mine due to it's embodiment of authentic Thai flavours & culture. All of the dishes I have tried have been packed with a wonderful & complex balance of flavour & texture through the use of both traditional and modern ingredients. I'm always looking forward to my next visit to sample some of their ever-evolving new dishes and some I'm already in love with!

Website: Giggling Squid