Thaikhun

Having seen the mixed reviews on Unilocal,I was a little apprehensive to try this place but glad I did, because it was pretty ace. Stopped in for lunch today and had a really great experience — I’m so satisfied that even 8 hours later, i’m not hungry again yet!
The staff were welcoming, friendly and happy to make recommendations for dietary requirements as well as their favourite dishes. We had starters and mains from the a la carte menu, and two soft drinks each, with our bill reaching £38 for two, including a 10% discount simply for following them on Twitter.
The sweetcorn cake starter was really good — fresh, crispy, and very like the corn cakes that the little old man made at the end of my street when I lived in Bangkok. The kao moo deng (red pork and rice) main was also delicious and authentic tasting — this used to be my staple lunch dish at our office canteen in Bangkok, and I was really surprised at how authentic this tasted! The addition of crispy crackling bits was a welcome one.
It’s a great lunch or un-​fancy dinner option and I am only sorry I am not at Silverburn more often, because I’ll definitely be returning here.

Now, I was super excited for Thaikhun (pronounced tycoon) opening at Silverburn. We live quite local but don’t go to Silverburn very often as I’m not a fan of the dining options — pretty much every restaurant is one of at least 4 or 5 other branches somewhere else in Glasgow so it makes for a pretty «meh» excitement level when dining there. So with the news of Thaikhun opening I was quite chuffed as this is the first location in Glasgow (there’s only one other in Aberdeen in Scotland) and I hadn’t tried it before.
It’s Thai street food. But in a restaurant. I won’t go into the «street food» tag which is tacked on to places which clearly aren’t street food vendors. I liked the look of the menu and booked for dinner on their first night of opening. I’d been invited to their launch night the night before but actually wanted to just go as a paying customer so I could review it.
I have a bit of a tendency to go to places on their first day/​week as I love to get that Unilocal FTR (First to Review). I’ve come to realise that the places that do opening days really well seem to be small independent places. Which is weird, because I actually expect chains to be better trained and more organised. (Thaikhun is part of the same group that owns Chaoprayha.)
When we arrived, no one seemed to actually check off our booking and we were vaguely offered a few different tables. The guy showing us tables wasn’t really great at gesticulating to a table though, so I felt confused about where he was even suggesting we sit. At one point, we were on one side of the wall and he was asking if we wanted to sit around the corner at a table we couldn’t even see. So that was a bit weird. Because it was their opening night they were doing 25% off all food which was good and would explain why the place was so busy (it was pretty much full).
We took our seat and had a look over the menu for drinks and what we were going to eat. We decided on the Sukumvit 38 Platter (£7.50pp) which has salt and pepper squid, corn cakes, chicken spring rolls, and honey pork served with street food dips. This is presented on a small table which they place in the middle of the table which looks kind of cool but is a bit of a challenge to get the food off as it’s around shoulder height, so you’re lifting your arms up to get the food off it. The good dishes on this were the pork which was very sweet and nicely cooked, and the corn balls were also quite nice with a bit of salad. I’m assuming the salt and pepper squid hadn’t had the salt & pepper added as it had no flavour whatsoever, and same goes for the spring rolls which were also pretty bland. This starter is served with sauces so perhaps the kitchen expect you to drown your food in chili or sweet chili sauce, but I expected the food to have flavour of its own before I added sauces.
For main, I got the Gai Yang (£15.95), a «must have» Thaikhun special from Isan. Half grilled chicken marinated with Kim’s secret recipe, served with raw papaya salad, pork scratching and sticky rice (noodles are also an option). This is served on a large tray and is absolutely massive — it almost looks like a portion for two people. I loved the presentation and was very impressed with the look of the dish. The chicken had grill marks on it and looked delicious, but again, it was lacking in the flavour department — I couldn’t taste any marinade at all. The papaya salad was really nice and refreshing, and I liked the pork scratchings too. I usually like sticky rice but this was really sticky, more like glue consistency. I would also say the tray of food shouldn’t have a piece of paper (which looks like newspaper) at the bottom as I had to pick pieces of it off the chicken. Hmm.
Ok, so by this point I was feeling pretty «meh» about the whole experience. Then the fire alarm went off, so after minutes of confusion from the staff, we were ushered outside (noting that a lot of the staff left before the customers, which is nice!). Thankfully it wasn’t the whole of the food court area at Silverburn and it was only about 10 minutes before we were allowed back in. Now, we’d actually finished eating by the time we were allowed back, so just asked if we could pay. The guy didn’t ask whether we’d actually finished eating and just gave us our bill, which I thought was a little rude.
I wanted to really love this restaurant as it’s something a little different, but I just can’t get over how bland the food was. Sauces are provided at the table — sriracha, chili flakes and fish sauce but I still expect my food to arrive with some flavour to start with. Generally, service was poor — drinks were forgotten, we had about a 30 minute wait between starter + main, and mostly just seemed confused. To be honest, this is one of the more disappointing dining experiences I’ve had this year, and for a bill of £45 I just can’t see me going back any time soon.

You don’t have to be a «tycoon» to eat in Thaikhun :) but for Silverburn it is quite expensive. A sister venture to Chaophraya it promises Thai street food, less manipulated for the western palate, spicier and sassier than the less pronounceably named sibling. It’s also way kitschier than the upmarket Chaophraya too, it reminds me more of places like the Hanoi Bike Shop or the Tiki Bar, it’s fun and interesting, with old books, fridges, bikes, wood etc. It feels relaxing and even plays contemporary Thai music. Very comfortable too… well except for the undersized table for two we were sat at, but we can forgive that.
There is a nice range of cocktails and beers on offer. I went for the Chang, although I changed to the Singha later, someone else was on driving duty! We ordered a combo starter of the Bangkok Street Platter, and I ordered the Massaman Gai Curry. It was only the second day but the staff were great and making me feel guilty for knowing absolutely no Thai verbal niceties whatsoever. We felt loved.
The platter was tasty as, with eggy and limey prawn toast, curried corn cakes (like corn bhaji), succulently moist chicken satay and Isan pork sausage. There was a satay dip, and a sweet chilli dip, which as usual I managed to cascade down my top. It was all good. My curry, well I was less impressed, it wasn’t spicy enough, but maybe just maybe I should have checked the menu which shows you graphically how hot it is. In other other words that was my fault, it was still nice, aromatically spiced and my only negative comment is that the chicken pieces could have been smaller cut. My partner loved her duck curry and it’s heat!
Best restaurant in Silverburn, yep for me definitely!