Being a foodie, the most important part of any trip will always be the food. I love a good museum trip like the next tourist, but give me a dish of food and a good glass of wine and I am content.
As I now spend the majority of my time based in London, I am never a stones throw away from a new restaurant, cafe or bar that I am yet to try. However, when returning home to the north, I always find myself going back to the same places. Tried and tested my Mam would say. There is nothing wrong about going back to that same pub for that special piece of pie, but nothing beats the excitement of trying somewhere new.
With Newcastle being a short car journey away for me, I was more than keen to try out 'ZAAP' Thai street food kitchen. Their concept is simple. An immersive Thai dining experience, serving nothing but authentic Thai food. I wouldn't consider myself a 'connoisseur' of Thai food as such, however I can distinguish a average pad-thai from an excellent one.
We arrived on a busy Saturday lunch time and were seated promptly. They do not take reservations, so you just arrive and wait. The menu's were already on the table, so it was clear what they were going for; authenticity through and through. There are tuc-tuc's on offer for the full dining experience, vibrant LED signage adorns the ceilings and the smell of soy and sesame fills the air. It sounds cliche but it's about as close to Bangkok as you're going to get in the North.
Opting to choose drinks first, we chose two mocktails. They were beautifully presented and has asian tastes of lemongrass, coconut and cucumber.
The food proved a more difficult choice. The menu could be seen as overwhelming, but I see it as a challenge. Double sided, it offered multiple dishes to choose from. A selection of your classic starters, gyoza, curries and noodle based dishes. Each offering a choice of chicken, pork, prawn and of course vegetable. You would struggle not to find something you like the sound of.
Choosing four starters and two mains to share, we opted for crispy squid tempura, pork and sesame skewers, chicken satay and vegetable gyoza. For main, a classic Thai green curry and prawn Pad-thai.
The starters arrived in no time. All tasting fresh and flavourful. The stand out dish were the gyoza, which were fried opposed to the traditional steaming.
The mains were equally as tasty, with a warming green curry accompanying perfectly steamed fragrant rice. The prawn pad thai had hinds of soy and tamarind paste, the classic for a pad thai. The vegetables were cooked to perfection, as were the noodles.
I usually struggle to rave about a restaurant without offering some improvement however, ZAAP may have to be an exception. Do not mistake this restaurant for a high class dining experience. Their identity is authentic, as is their service and food.
I highly recommend this restaurant if you are ever in the Newcastle area. Here is a link to their site, if you intent on paying them a visit.
https://zaapthai.co.uk/locations/newcastle/
Thank you for reading,
Luke.
*DISCLAIMER: this meal was fortunately a complimentary experience in return for honest social media coverage. All opinions are true and 100% reflective of my personal experience*
