I got back from golf between 7.30 and 8pm this evening.  I fancied Thai food and TripAdvisor showed a highly rated Thai restaurant a 10 minute walk from the house.  I’m always more than a little suspicious of TripAdvisor ratings but this looked a half decent bet, so I set off to Thai Neesia.  The restaurant didn’t have a licence but allowed BYO and there was a Bottle Shop next door.  Armed with a bottle of Watervale Riesling (a very dry style this, which matched the Thai food extremely well) I sat down and ordered stuffed chicken wings and soft shell crab.

The chicken wings were fine, without being extraordinary.  The soft shelled crab, however, was simply wonderful.  Is there any other food which, done well, can match soft shelled crab?  This came with a small sweetcorn, slices of red chilli and Thai holy basil, in a deeply unctuous soy based sauce.  On a bed of plainly steamed Jasmine rice, the end result was a dish that offered texture (the crunch of the deep fried crab contrasting with the bite of the sweetcorn and chilli pieces and the softness of the rice) and extraordinary flavours, the heat of the chilli contrasting with the sweetness of the basil and the crab meat, accentuated every so often by a piece of the crab that was intensely sea-foody and the saltiness of some of the crab and the deep soy base.

I have eaten very well today, though oddly I realise that this is the second day running where I have managed on just two meals.

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