Chaophraya Thai Restaurant, Manchester

Yesterday, my parents celebrated their Pearl Wedding Anniversary; 30 years together. Imagine being able to find someone you could put up with for 3 decades – I’m still trying to find someone I can put up with for more than 30 days without getting bored. But, that’s another story. My point is that to celebrate, we wanted to visit somewhere special, as it was a very special occasion after all. To mark the occassion, we chose Chaophraya.

(PS:Chaophraya weren’t aware of our visit – we paid for this in full and just wanted to share the experience with you).

Located just off King Street, Manchester, Chaophraya is very central but yet somehow manages to feel nestled away. Inside, the decor is immediately striking; it is a beautiful restaurant with opulent decor reminiscent of a Thai palace. In case you hadn’t guessed, the food is Thai, so if that isn’t up your street, I would still recommend popping inside for a cocktail or two at the ground floor bar for a special occasion – it really is a treat. Instead, we were seated upstairs, close to their open kitchen and overlooking their fishtank bar. (Don’t worry, the fish looked very happy and had lots of space to swim around!).

There were four of us dining and as it was a special occasion, we decided to get started to nibble on before our main meal. I had a huge portion of delicious Tempura Vegetables, including spinach, mushroom, green beans and pumpkin in a light and crispy batter. However the highlights presentation-wise had to be my Mum’s choice of Tempura Prawns (a classic Thai dish) and my Dad’s choice of ‘Golden Baskets’, photographed above. This starter came with an edible bowl of sweet yet spicy cold and coley, encouraging you to fill your own baskets full of this fishcake mix.

After finishing off the starters, we were presented with our main courses, which were sizzling! The main courses come without sides, so we ordered a side each, opting for different ones so that we could mix and match. We went for Jasmine Rice, Egg Noodles, Egg Fried Rice and Sticky Rice. My favourites were the noodles, which were delicious and complimented any flavour. Looking back on this, we definitely didn’t need four sides for four people, instead one side would be quiet enough to share between two and realistically it probably works out quite expensive to do this. But hey, it was a special occasion!

As well as traditional Thai and meat dishes (my dad went for ‘Weeping Tiger’ – not an actual tiger I can assure you, but a Thai steak dish!), there was a decent choice of vegetarian options. I chose the Stir Fry Aubergine, which not only included the most obvious vegetable, but also a whole host of others and came in an absolutely huge portion. It was delicious and I’m not ashamed to say I took home half the dish to enjoy again the next day, which our lovely waitress was more than happy to accommodate.

Pretty full by this point, we couldn’t squeeze in a dessert. Over all, we had an absolutely lovely evening at Chaophraya Manchester. It is definitely expensive, but for a special occasion it is totally worth it and we didn’t blink twice about it. The staff were all so lovely (a lot of bowing, which was very endearing) and the food, decor and location are incredible. Honestly, it was lovely, and perfect way to celebrate 30 years of love!