Blink and you miss it. We were so busy admiring the enormous stone emporium of Andy Thornton’s Architectural Antiques that we drove straight past the tiny Cafe Thai on the opposite side of the main road in West Vale.
I’d read good reports about the food at this family-run business and was intrigued as to how this tiny take-away with seating for just over a dozen had managed to work its way up to number 14 of 188 restaurants listed for Halifax on Trip Advisor.
Comments such as “absolutely delicious food” and “tiny place – great food” had whetted my appetite, I have a particular soft spot, and regular yearnings, for south east Asian food.
Although the address is Halifax, it’s on our side of town and not much more than a stone’s throw from Outlane. In fact the journey took less than 15 minutes – close enough for a take-away if the food was good.
Cafe Thai opened two and a half years ago and its catchphrase ‘Where East Meets West’ succinctly sums up the business. Paul Nichols (joint owner with cousin Scott Carroll) met his wife Jiraporn in northern Thailand, where Paul had a restaurant and they run the place together.
Paul has gone from running an English restaurant in Thailand to running a Thai restaurant in England. Jiraporn, the chefs and other staff are all Thai, lending an authenticity to the dishes.
The whole enterprise could be fitted into the cloakroom of a normal-sized restaurant. On the left is the thriving take-away section of the empire, with a steady stream of customers during our time there.
Down three interior steps is the Lilliputian and spotlessly clean cafe-style dining room. With stainless steel chairs and a hard floor, it has seating for 18 – although that would be a squeeze on the five small tables.
Trish and I kept our jackets on, but three young women arrived in sparkly dresses with bare arms and seemed impervious to the cold. They were there for a quick sit-down meal en route to a party, and the place already seemed half full.
Sadly, we forgot the booze and had to content ourselves with water and soft drinks while watching the lively lasses on the next table down copious quantities of cool, fizzy lager straight from the bottle.
The only upside of being teetotal was that we drank less and had no need to visit the loos – which are outside!
The prices are the same whether you eat in or take away. Appetisers range from £3.50 for poh plia tod – Thai spring rolls – to £10.90 for five mixed starters for two people.
As is often the case in Asian restaurants, there was a good choice for vegetarians: deep fried mixed veg in a tempura batter, chargrilled marinated mushrooms in satay sauce, and bean curd in sweet and sour sauce were just three for starters.
Other offerings came under the categories of Thai salads, curries, soups and stir fries, along with a range of noodles and rice.
I enjoyed the prawn tempura with peanut sauce and Trish’s tod mun pla (minced fishcakes with red curry paste and lime leaves) served with a sweet chilli peanut sauce were flavourful and not too spicy.
One of the party girls ordered a stir fry with large quantities of what looked like extremely appetising and lean slices of beef.
The ultimate test of any Thai restaurant is its green chicken curry. Cafe Thai’s was rich and creamy, suffused with a full coconut flavour. Not as hot as some curries I’d had on my eastern travels – obviously the chillies had been toned down for a Western (Vale) palette – but this allowed the taste of the individual ingredients to permeate through.
Trish opted for sua rong hai (tiger’s tear) and that alone made our visit worthwhile. This dish of Thai-style chargrilled marinated sirloin steak was ordered rare and cooked to perfection . The marinade gave the steak an extra dimension, a depth of flavour which made the dish memorable.
Portions were large and we left with doggie bags.
VERDICT: Good Thai food, we’ll be back for a take-away
Cafe Thai
1 Green Lane, West Vale, Halifax, HX4 8AB
Tel: 01422 272037
Website: No, on Facebook at Cafe-Thai
Opening hours: Kitchen hours: Monday to Saturday 5pm to 11pm, Sunday 4pm to 10pm
Children: Yes
Disabled Access: Sorry, no
The bill: £14 a head, bring your own drinks
Would you go back? Yes, definitely for a take-away
PHOTOS: Friday Dec 6th
