Food tastes as good as it did three years ago
The Boy had cleaned the barbecue, Mrs FM had popped down to the butchers to buy some fillet steaks, while I had returned from a Highlands' trek with freshly dived-for Crinan Loch scallops and salmon. All ingredients for a corking evening spent on the patio.
While the female members of our party retired to the kitchen, the chaps and me headed to The Potting Shed where the topics of conversation were somewhat more testosterone-packed.
I shall not repeat some of the fruitier topics touched upon. However, I shall state that the topics of foreign travelogues and general misbehaviour filled the air.
In fact, I am not entirely sure if the mention of the Far East is what led to the subsequent phone call from Mr Ndabadingi but he wanted to try a Thai restaurant locally.
It has been over three years since I last visited Thailand No.1 in the Bailgate and a certain inevitability started to develop.
We agreed to meet at the top end of town and parking in the small Pay & Display adjacent to the walls of Lincoln Castle meant that we had only a few yards to walk to our restaurant.
I should point out that this was last Monday evening. Monday's are not traditionally a busy night for dining out in Lincoln so we had not booked beforehand. This was the cause of concerned look on the faces of our Thai hosts.
We were led through the restaurant to the rear of the middle section and a free table. The place seemed to fill rapidly to the point at which there was scarcely a free seat available.
Of course the other element surrounds 'quality'. Good quality will always sell, regardless of how impecunious critics consider the consumer to be.
The presentation at Thailand No.1 is impeccable, from the hessian serviette holders to the 'gold' cutlery and the immaculate table linen, backed up by smiling Thai waitresses, who presented us with the velour-wrapped menu.
As Clarence is inexperienced in the Thai food scene, I figured that a set menu might make a useful diversion and provide us with a good cross-section of various Thai foods.
Served in pale green bowls with matching saucers, the Tom Kha Gai (hot and sour soup) was truly very special. The essence of coconut milk and hot green chilli was balanced by chunks of white cap mushroom and spoon-sized chunks of chicken breast flavoured with lemongrass, lime leaves, lemon juice and fresh coriander.
As the restaurant continued to fill, our plates were cleared away and a typical Thai candle burner (to keep the appetiser course warm) was placed between us, along with a small plate containing three dipping sauce dishes – peanut satay, sweet chilli and herbed and spiced dipping oil.
The hors d'ouevre dish was placed atop the burner. Two of each of Satay Gai (skewered smoked chicken breast), Khanom Pang Tord (deep-fried minced chicken and prawn on toast), Tord Mon Pla (deep-fried fish cakes), Poh Peah Goong (deep-fried and marinated king prawns wrapped in crispy spring roll pastry), Gai Hor Bai Taei (marinated chicken breast served with coriander root, cracked black pepper and wrapped in Pandan leaves) were placed on the dish alongside beautifully cut-out (from fresh swede) flowers and leaves, something at which Thai chefs are highly skilled.
All are classically elegant and traditional Thai appetisers that match with any of the dips but have a beautiful, well-rounded flavour. The chicken was so tender and the deep-fried elements were completely dry and not in the least bit soggy.
Naturally, Thai food relies heavily on the use of both sweet and spicy extremes of the flavouring envelope, yet there is a satisfying cleanliness to the overall taste, which makes every single element used in the cooking stand out.
Another burner unit was placed in the centre of the table to carry the Gaeng Musaman Gai, a yellow curry using a coconut milk base, flavoured with peanuts and crinkly-cut chunks of potato and chicken strips.
On separate serving dishes were Goong Pad Himmapam, king prawns stir-fried in exotic tamarind sauce combined with cashew nuts, Moo Pad Ka-Praw, which is stir-fried slices of pork with fresh basil leaves and fresh green and red chillies, the three main dishes being accompanied by a serving of stir-fried egg noodles (Pad Mee Jay) with mixed and finely sliced or chunked vegetables (carrot, mange-touts, spring onion and ginger strips), and Khaow Pad, or egg fried fragranced rice.
In all cases, the meat was simply stunning, being both tender and succulent and cut or sliced into manageable portions, while the vegetables retained an al dente freshness and 'crunch' that went so well together with the meat.
The curry was utterly gorgeous, the sauce base being both spicy hot, yet beguilingly sweet and savoury in equal, perfectly balanced measure.
As there is no traditional restaurant dessert served at Thailand No.1, we settled the bill for a moderate £52.15 and departed feeling suitably satisfied.
As I think back to my last visit to these premises just over three years ago, I can recall that I enjoyed a similarly enjoyable dining experience and it is easy to comprehend why booking in future may be a good idea.
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