The Location
The Erawan portfolio of Thai restaurants in Edinburgh began ten years ago with the opening of Siam Erawan in the heart of the New Town. Their city centre sister restaurant Erawan Oriental was formerly located in St. Andrews Square but in February 2004 it moved to a stone's throw away from the new Scottish Parliament at Unit 4, The Tun Holyrood Road. The Tun is a multi-purpose building comprising a collection of new bars and restaurants as well as a cultural centre upstairs including the BBC studios and British Council offices. Nearby is the award winning Dynamic Earth Science centre and the Palace of Holyroodhouse. So the restaurant is in an ideal location to attract Edinburgh visitors, politicians and media folk for lunch or dinner.
The Restaurant
The Erawan Oriental is rather chic with a carefully designed oriental look. It's all very fresh, bright and light in colour and texture giving a sense of a garden setting. Seating is either at the long rows of teak tables along the window and centre or in the oh, so comfortable, hideaway sofa booths on the far side, ideal for a couple or party of four diners. Tall wooden pillars around the room are decorated with carvings of elephants, and all around is a collection of figurine statues, colourful paintings and dotted around a few plant pots with verdant green ferns and bamboo. There are plans to develop the space with 20 more seats and a separate bar area.Erawan Oriental is owned and managed by Derek Bell and his wife Po.
The Food
Thai cuisine is considered among the world's most delicious, with a unique blend of particular tastes: hot (spicy), sour (piquant), sweet, and always highlighted with citrus (lemongrass and lime). When asked to describe Thai food one usually says, "It's hot and spicy". The basic characteristic taste of Thai food comes from a mixture of salt and pepper, garlic and coriander root pounded together. It is this aromatic combination that turns fried chicken into Thai fried chicken not American fried chicken. Also a large number of herbs, spices, leaves, roots and even flowers are widely used for their aromatic qualities. These include chillies large and small, from bright red to dull green. Another essential ingredient in Thai cooking is coconut milk to give a smooth creamy base to sauces.
Prepare to take time to read the menu - or check out the Erawan Oriental Web site in advance. There are a total of 51 items including starters, main courses, Oriental Specialities, Vegetarian specialities and side dishes including a wide choice of noodles and rice. Dishes are presented for sharing, so whatever your dining partner(s) select, you can sample it too. Popia Sod are freshly made Spring Rolls with roast duck, cucumber and mint, or Popia Pak are vegetarian spring rolls with a chilli dip. Very tasty indeed. Also recommended are the classic Thai fishcakes, which have an enigmatic spiciness and a fine chewy texture. Alternatively Tom Yum Goong, a traditional fish soup and Chicken Satay, chargrilled with peanut sauce.
Whether you prefer lamb, beef, duck, fish or vegetarian, there will be a speciality Thai dish for you. What about Pla Tod Yum, crispy fried Red Snapper topped with fresh mango in a coriander, lime, garlic and chilli dressing - the sweet fruit adding an intriguing zest to the fish. My partner and I both chose from the Oriental Specialities menu - a traditional spicy Thai green curry with King Prawn, and Geang Keow Waan Pak, a vegetarian curry with beancurd, aubergines and babycorn. And of course the dishes are placed on a hot plate in the middle so that we could sample both. To accompany these we ordered steamed Thai jasmine rice, also known as fragrant rice - which unfortunately I found rather sticky and rubbery rather than fine separate grains - and also a side order of noodles.
Be warned, portion sizes are enormous with huge steaming bowls placed before us. Also for the uninitiated be warned that Thai curry can be very hot in terms of a bold "burn the back of the throat" spiciness so a large bottle of water may be required! We also selected a bottle of house red wine, Cinsault Cabernet Sauvignon from South Africa, full of plummy fruits, which complemented the curries well.
There is a small selection of desserts including Malibu and coconut sorbet and a wonderful fresh fruit salad, with some very exotic shapes and colours specially imported from Thailand.
The Bill
Starters: £5.00. Main courses: £8.50 - £15.00. Side orders: Jasmine rice £1.95, Egg noodles, £2.75 House wine: £12.95.Conclusion
Thai cuisine is becoming increasingly popular and a welcome change from a visit to your local Indian or Chinese takeaway. It is a very specific and delicate cuisine with a blend of subtle and strong spices to which the taste buds need to get accustomed. One thing is for sure, that was my first visit to Erawan Oriental but not my last. There are a few dozen more dishes to try! Friendly service with helpful explanation offered on dishes to help you decide. Lunch is served Monday-Saturday Noon-2.30pm and dinner daily from 5.30-10.30pm. See the Erawan Oriental Web site for further details.
Vivien Devlin
