Thai restaurant review: Koh Thai Tapas Restaurant, Boscombe (From Bournemouth Echo)

Thai restaurant review: Koh Thai Tapas Restaurant, Boscombe

11:00am Tuesday 2nd February 2010 in

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A TASTE of Thailand has come to Boscombe – and it tastes good. Koh hasn’t been open for long but tales of the tapas restaurant and bar’s authentic Thai cuisine have been doing the rounds, so I had to find out for myself what all the fuss was about.

We visited Koh on Christchurch Road at 7pm on a Saturday and already the restaurant was starting to fill up – evidently plenty of people had the same idea as us.

Traditionally decorated with Thai artefacts – everything from the floors to the walls was built by the owners – Koh is warm and welcoming and the staff were instantly friendly and helpful.

We perused the menu – which includes tapas dishes, main courses and main courses served in tapas portions should you wish – and chose a selection of tapas dishes to start.

The Prawn Tempura was excellent and the 24-hour ribs were a messy affair, but well worth the effort.

However, it was the Thai Grilled Pork that made us sit up and take notice. Served on bamboo skewers they were delightfully tender and tasted exquisite.

As a bit of a gamble we decided to try the acquired taste of mussels wrapped in bacon – definitely a gamble worth taking in my opinion.

For mains we stuck with the tapas theme and ordered tapas versions of a variety of the main dishes available.

You can’t properly judge a Thai restaurant without trying their Thai Green Curry – the staple of any good Thai meal.

Along the same line of thought we ordered the Pad Thai and Massaman Lamb Curry accompanied by Koh’s Cucumber Salad – recommended by a helpful waiter.

The Thai Green Curry couldn’t be faulted. Its blend of spices created a dish that wasn’t too hot but certainly wasn’t bland by any stretch of the imagination.

My guest had recently travelled in Thailand and gave the Pad Thai a thumbs up for authenticity, while the Massaman Curry wasn’t quite as she remembered, but nonetheless more than satisfied the tastebuds.

Ordering several tapas dishes meant the final bill was just over £40, excluding drinks. The quality of the food we’d enjoyed and the variety of Thai cuisine we’d been able to sample meant it was more than worth it.

I will certainly be returning to try some of the dishes we didn’t get round to sampling on this visit.