Miss Siam

Miss Siam is a long-established Thai restaurant, located next to the Civic Centre at 40 York Street.  Its outside looks unprepossessing, perhaps somewhat drab; but the inside is comfortably appointed, with wicker chairs, pink tablecloths, and a dark green carpet.  There are a number of cooling fans on the ceiling, but these were not needed on the evening we visited during this long cold spring.  The restaurant was by no means full, but with sufficient other customers to make the atmosphere in the restaurant convivial.  The sound system was not used during most of our meal, but then played some music at an unobtrusive volume.     

The menu contains a fair number of options without being overly long.  For starters we chose the Chicken Tom Yum soup, deemed ‘as good as it gets’ by my companion; the Vegetable Tempura, which was fresh, hot and plentiful; and the Prawn Siam, prawns wrapped in rice paper and fried. These too were enjoyed.

The main courses however didn’t quite live up to the same high standard as the starters.  The Volcano Chicken dish was showy, being a whole (small) chicken impaled vertically on a spit and served flambé.  It was well cooked, and the meat fell away from the bones easily enough, but this was a dish that took some effort to eat.  The Chu Chee Khoog (king prawns in red curry paste with coconut milk and shredded lime leaves) had the prawns served shelled, at our request.  The stir-fried chicken sizzler was deemed to be rather on the bland side, not as fresh or spicy as it might have been.

We were somewhat surprised at the pricing of the rice to accompany the main courses.  Jasmine rice is £1.95, but the traditional Thai sticky rice and the egg fried rice are both £1 dearer.  We chose Singha beer to accompany the meal: the 330 ml bottles are priced at £3.25.  There is also a range of wine and other drinks available.  We found the service, from a young lady dressed in traditional Thai costume, to be faultless.

Overall an enjoyable meal, with reasonable value for money (we paid £30 a head, with tip).  It is tricky comparing and rating different types of restaurants – how can you compare a cheap and cheerful eatery with a Michelin-starred restaurant (not that there are any in Twickenham)?  Giving a star rating out of five, based on the notion of ‘recommendability’ (if there were such a word), we decided that Miss Siam rates three and a half stars.





29th May 2013