Excellent Thai food at the Park Hyatt

I had my third really good meal in as many months at The Thai Kitchen, Park Hyatt Dubai last week and although I reviewed the restaurant a while back, I think it's worth flagging again, thanks to the quality and consistency of the food and cooking.

I really do love everything about the place: its prime location overlooking the creek, the smiley, happy service, the oversize bowls filled with chillies and limes which are dotted about the various cooking stations, the sense of calm I feel when seated at a little table on the terrace, the fragrant, herby smell that fills the air - I could go on.
It is the food however, that really impresses. If you haven't been before, note that the portions are quite small - which is ideal because it means you get to order more dishes - and that the food arrives as and when it is ready. As the little plates are delivered to the table, a waitress will offer you a scoop or two of steaming hot white rice, served straight from a bamboo basket.

 
I adore the fruity, bold, spicy, sour papaya salad, but this time around was convinced to the try the pomelo version, which was also very good indeed. Another salad of seared beef with garlic and oyster mushrooms was delicious; the meat was rich and marbled, the mushrooms had character and a Thai fish sauce dressing made itself known, without overpowering the dish.

I've raved about the sweet and sour sea bass with crispy fried skin and crunchy peppercorns in the past (recipe here) and loved the crab salad when I first tried it. Having sampled the seared tuna special, which was served with plenty of chilli and crunchy vegetables flecked with Thai basil last week I'm hoping that it becomes a permanent fixture on the menu.

The other thing that I really like about The Thai Kitchen is the fact that it is reasonably priced; on average, a meal for two costs around Dh300, which, considering the setting and the standard is a bit of a steal.  For more information call:[phone].