Walking into The Blue Elephant on Fulham Broadway is like walking into a taste of Thailand.
The interior is an authentic combination of waterfalls, lily ponds, exotic plants and flowers, goldfish, and Thai antiques and objects. It creates an almost tacky appearance but with the wooden bridges, bamboo branches, and gentle Thai music you are transported to a realm of Thai culture which adds to the fun element of being somewhere exotic in the middle of London, especially when the city is verging on winter.
To start with, I must say that the service was excellent. Wine was poured and refilled into our glasses, which meant we drank more than one bottle! This sat in a ice bucket stand that was hidden neatly halfway under our table, and continued to cool our Pinot Grigio whilst we indulged in conversation about the splendours of our surroundings. It was pleasing to get service that really left you to it. We were served our entrees and mains and asked once if everything was fine but you also had the sense that they were watching out for you in case something wasn't to your satisfaction. In other words the waiting staff did not harass us by questioning "is everything ok?" numerous times, and we didn’t feel like they were crowding around us like hawks ready to pounce on some unexpecting prey, all in which made for a very pleasant evening.
The food itself is another asset to The Blue Elephant. I read on their website that their chef, who assists in designing the interiors of each restaurant, is regarded as one of the five top chefs in Thailand. Top that off with the great food, wait staff and surroundings, The Blue Elephant makes one really good Thai restaurant.
My diners and I wanted to splurge on our meal so we settled on three entrees and four mains with a side of rice. Our meal was started with a complimentary entrée of hollowed cucumbers with minced chicken and herbs and spices, and a palate cleanser of coriander and carrot soup. Both of these starters were tantalising in flavour and left us looking forward to our next course. The entrees consisted first of Laab Salmon, a mixture of diced fresh salmon and Thai herbs, second of traditional Thai fish cakes with a red curry paste, and thirdly of good old satay, but with seafood! The salmon was mooshy in texture and wasn’t overpowering in flavour which was a good accompaniment to the other more flavourful starters. The biggest highlight was in fact the seafood satay skewers which both Jo and I had never tried before and were a bit sceptical of, but the first bite into the satay prawn definitely had me converted.
The main courses arrived spectacularly presented. Our Fresh Lime Seabass arrived intact with head, and eyeball all on a plate. This dish was rather spicy as it was topped with fresh chillies but the downside was that it was not filleted. Bones were amongst many mouthfuls and this left a bitter taste towards the fish. We also devoured the Tamarind Duck dish which was rich in flavour and in sauce but very nicely cooked to a medium rare finish. We could not complete our meal without traditional Pad Thai (a flat rice noodle dish, usually with egg, prawns, spring onions and bean sprouts and garnished with crushed peanuts). This was not up to my usual standard of Pad Thai but it could have been from the flavoursome mains we were devouring at the same time. Our final main and the favourite of the meal for me was a Thai Beef Salad. This had the perfect fusion of flavours with lime and chilli and was complimented by the fresh coriander and sweet chilli sauce. I am a huge fan of Thai Beef Salads and this would have to be one of the best I have tasted. The ratio of meat, to salad was met extremely well and it was definitely something I would order again.
เยี่ยมมาก !
(Well done!)
