Totally Thai-rrific
 | | Food at Piya Piya is lovingly prepared |
PIYA PIYA
(Thai restaurant and lounge bar)
1 Oliver's Yard, off City Road, EC1
Tel: 020 7490 4613 or 0845 475 1971
THAI restaurants are now a high street staple but Piya Piya aims to offer more than a top-notch green curry.
Set on the edge of the City, Piya Piya is attempting to roll bar, living room and restaurant into one.
And come Saturday, the vibe is ramped up even further as the eaterie transforms into a club.
But with all this going on, will the food be any good? Or will it be relegated to second fiddle as City boys lounge on the bright pink and fuchsia seats bemoaning the credit crunch with a boozy cocktail (there are dozens to choose from) in hand?
Piya Piya has, however, nabbed the skills of a chef who has demonstrated Thai cooking on the likes of the BBC's MasterChef. So we had reason to be hopeful.
The evening kicked off with a couple of cocktails. Or, in our case, mocktails. And they were refreshingly good - particularly the fab fake-mojito packed with ice and mint.
We then moved on to a vegetarian platter which could so easily have been a tired concoction of soggy spring rolls and limp tempura. But each mouthful was a lovingly prepared dish in its own right. Only the veggie satay could have done with a few more minutes on the griddle.
But it was the main courses that were particularly successful - and a world away from tired bar food. The sea bass with lemon, ginger and pickled plums was beautifully tender and tangy. And the award-winning beef peanut butter curry was, well, deservedly award-winning. Only the sautéed aubergines could have done with being less saucey and more auberginey.
With such food on offer, Piya Piya deserves to be seen as more than a City boys' hangout - even if the vibe is better suited to a group of friends than a family dinner. But it does need to spruce up the surroundings by getting rid of the tired tablecloths and having a general tidy-up.
With that done, there is no reason why Piya Piya shouldn't tempt more diners south of the Old Street roundabout to sample what it has to offer. - MEYREM HUSSEIN
Main courses (food is halal): £7.20 to £11.50
Alcoholic cocktails: £6.50 to £8.50
Disabled access: yes
|
|
|
|
|
|