We are having some work done on our kitchen, so what better excuse to try a new local eat.
We fancied a Thai and had recently tried Butlers Thai for a takeaway, so were keen to try it 'eat in' - however they weren't open on this lovely bank holiday, so we looked elsewhere. We'd heard of the newly opened Thai competitor - Nuki, on Northfields Avenue which had so far been spoken fondly about - so we gave that a go.
So new, they only so far have a Facebook page and no website, Nuki's operates much like a cafe during the day and restaurant by night. With a 'Cafe Open' sign stood outside, not quite to the same theme as its stylish exterior.
The inside is cosy, and a bit more cafe like - but also pleasant for an evening's dinner.
We had luckily called ahead and reserved, as it seemed most other tables had also done... each had a reserved sign on it when we arrived, and the space quickly filled. All evening there was also a steady stream of customers coming to collect their take-away (it made us think that perhaps they don't offer delivery yet - which has been confirmed on their Facebook update on March 7th, something they will look at in future). It is also bring your own bottle (BYO), though they are now charging £2 per head for this, and applying for a liquor license in the meantime.
The menu was great, and seemed to offer most of the fresh Thai dishes we like, except for a lime chicken salad which we've sampled in a few other places before.
We ordered the dim sum and chicken satay to start... so were surprised to be brought (in error) someone else's Tom Yum soup... which was relatively quickly corrected. The starters were delicious, and we particularly liked the little heart dishes of soy that the dim sum arrived in (very practical for pouring that last drop of sauce on top of the Dim Sum on your plate).
For mains we shared a chicken Penang curry (coconutty and creamy), a Som Tom salad (limey and fresh), Pad Broccoli (nicely crisp) and some egg fried rice and steamed rice. This was more than enough for us both with the starters too. It was all really good, except for the steamed rice which was a little on the under-cooked side. We also observed that the salad, although amazing in taste was not quite as delicate as some others we'd had in more upmarket places in the past - perhaps to be expected for the reasonable prices.
As for dessert, the menu was amazing - a full array of Thai options. We ordered the bananas in hot coconut milk, but this somehow got lost in communication at some point and we instead had the banana fritters with ice cream - which weren't a disappointment.
Despite some teething issues perhaps in the service, the food was tasty, and I'm certainly tempted to head back soon for their £5 lunch deals and to tick off some more of the dessert menu.
We fancied a Thai and had recently tried Butlers Thai for a takeaway, so were keen to try it 'eat in' - however they weren't open on this lovely bank holiday, so we looked elsewhere. We'd heard of the newly opened Thai competitor - Nuki, on Northfields Avenue which had so far been spoken fondly about - so we gave that a go.
So new, they only so far have a Facebook page and no website, Nuki's operates much like a cafe during the day and restaurant by night. With a 'Cafe Open' sign stood outside, not quite to the same theme as its stylish exterior.
We had luckily called ahead and reserved, as it seemed most other tables had also done... each had a reserved sign on it when we arrived, and the space quickly filled. All evening there was also a steady stream of customers coming to collect their take-away (it made us think that perhaps they don't offer delivery yet - which has been confirmed on their Facebook update on March 7th, something they will look at in future). It is also bring your own bottle (BYO), though they are now charging £2 per head for this, and applying for a liquor license in the meantime.
The menu was great, and seemed to offer most of the fresh Thai dishes we like, except for a lime chicken salad which we've sampled in a few other places before.
We ordered the dim sum and chicken satay to start... so were surprised to be brought (in error) someone else's Tom Yum soup... which was relatively quickly corrected. The starters were delicious, and we particularly liked the little heart dishes of soy that the dim sum arrived in (very practical for pouring that last drop of sauce on top of the Dim Sum on your plate).
For mains we shared a chicken Penang curry (coconutty and creamy), a Som Tom salad (limey and fresh), Pad Broccoli (nicely crisp) and some egg fried rice and steamed rice. This was more than enough for us both with the starters too. It was all really good, except for the steamed rice which was a little on the under-cooked side. We also observed that the salad, although amazing in taste was not quite as delicate as some others we'd had in more upmarket places in the past - perhaps to be expected for the reasonable prices.
As for dessert, the menu was amazing - a full array of Thai options. We ordered the bananas in hot coconut milk, but this somehow got lost in communication at some point and we instead had the banana fritters with ice cream - which weren't a disappointment.
Despite some teething issues perhaps in the service, the food was tasty, and I'm certainly tempted to head back soon for their £5 lunch deals and to tick off some more of the dessert menu.
| Summary score table /5 | |
| Food Deliciousness: | 3.5 |
| Drinks Tastiness: | 3 |
| Service Skills: | 2 |
| Atmospheric Vibes: | 3.5 |
| Recommendation Score for a Casual Eve: | 4 |
| Recommendation Score for Showing off Ealing: | 3 |
| Total average score: | 3.2 |
