I hate it when friends assume I’m the oracle when it comes to choosing restaurants as all I do is spend a bit of time googling. The task this time: a pre-theatre meal for two before seeing ‘Showstoppers! The Improvised Musical’ at the Apollo Theatre.
Despite the show not starting until 8pm, my working friend couldn’t get meet until 6.30pm and we had to pick up the tickets. “Thai Tho”:http://www.thaitho.co.uk/?p=branch&branch=soho appeared to fit the bill as it was virtually directly opposite the theatre (and therefore also handy for the other theatres at the Piccadilly Circus end of Shaftesbury Avenue).
The restaurant is on the first floor with a small entrance on Rupert Street. Although I’d booked, I needn’t have, as the reasonably large dining room was less than half full. I was shown a reserved table which was really nipped in with diners on both sides. I asked for a table in a quieter area which wasn’t a problem but the girl suggested as it was near the door, it might be draughty. However, as a fifty-something woman, an occasional blast of cold air, can be welcoming.
There’s an extensive “menu”:http://www.thaitho.co.uk/Soho.pdf with over twenty soups and starters. The rest of the menu is brigaded by headings such as curry, stir fries, salads or type of meat or fish. All the usual Thai favourites were well described with the red chilli symbol highlighting the spiciness of each dish. Virtually all the main courses were well under £10.
Not wanting to sit on a heavy meal, we both opted for Plah Kung – prawns mixed with fresh salad, lemongrass and sliced onions in a hot and sour dressing. There was not a huge amount of salad, but there were around 12 large warm prawns topped with sliced fresh red and green chilies. It wasn’t for the feint hearted and very soon we were both reaching for tissues. It was just what we wanted although bread of a spoonful of rice would have been lovely to soak up the juices left in our bowl.
A bottle of Sauvignon Blanc was reasonably priced at £17.95 and was automatically presented in a chiller. Service was good: professional and timely and so after enjoying our Elizabeth Shaw mint chocolate, we made our way across the road to collect our tickets with enough time to order a drink for the interval.
I’d definitely return and test a more substantial meal. By the way, the show was absolutely amazing but unfortunately finishes at the end of November 15.
