Thai Aubergine was located in front of the Travelodge in King's Cross. There were only one couple (using a Tastecard) eating there at 18:35 yesterday. The owner (old female) and the female chef were sitting at one of the tables chatting. Two waitresses were busy chatting behind the counter; one was friendly and the other was surly.
Tod Mun Pia (Pla?) was tasty, but the texture was very soft. The dip didn't contain any peanuts as was described in the menu. It only had three small pieces and wasn't a good value. Poh Pia Ped (Duck Spring Roll) was crispy and had a nice flavour, but again the portion was small for £5 and I was not keen on hoi sin sauce. Both dishes had tired shredded cabbage & carrots and tomato on limp lettuce with brown edges. It was clear they did not use fresh vegetables and they did not prepare with care.
They brought us one Steamed Rice and one Sticky Rice well before the main course, so they got cold.
We asked them not to put garlic in our mains, but both Gai Med Muang (£7.35) and Talay Graprow (£8.80) came with lots of them, and were way too salty. So we sent them back together with cold rice and asked them not to make them too salty. When we got the replacements, they tasted fine, but again they did not offer good value. The former (Chicken with Cashew Nuts) only had 6-7 small slices of chicken and 6-7 cashew nuts. The rest was lots of onions, peppers and carrots. The latter had one prawn, one mussel, three squid pieces and 5 small slices of fish cakes. The rest was composed from lots of peppers and lovely green beans. Steamed Rice was hard and was of the cheap variety - not the fragrant Jasmine Rice. Sticky Rice came in a nice container and was slightly on the hard side, but was fine.
The décor was slightly tired; the wallpaper was peeling. It is definitely not suitable for a date; he/she will not forgive you.
The owner (?) was very friendly and chatty. Chef was capable of producing tasty dishes, but it was a shame they used cheap ingredients and the prices were too high for the poor quality. As a result, they did not offer good value. I don't think I will go back. read more