Pork laab @ Spice Thai
40 Castle St, Liverpool, L2 7LA
Most Thai restaurants in the UK tend to have one of two different aesthetics — they’re decorated with carved wooden elephants and paintings of Buddhist temples or with giant light-up adverts for Chang Beer and arty photographs of Bangkok street scenes.
The latter are usually described as serving ‘street food’ but the reality is the menus are often very similar in both kinds of eatery: Pad Thai (obviously); Tom Yum; fishcakes; a handful of curries (green, red, massaman) etc. etc.
As it goes, Spice Thai’s aesthetic is very much in the neons-and-tuktuks vein, but their food offering is a bit broader than I’ve come to expect from most British Thai restaurants.
Their ‘grills’ include the usual Weeping Tiger (sizzling steak with super-hot toasted chilli sauce) but also Kor Moo Yang (succelent barbecue pork collar) and smoky, lemongrass-marinated Gai Yang (sometimes known as ‘kickboxing chicken’ because it’s such a mainstay of the food hawkers at Muay Thai matches).
Most exciting though is the selection of salads on offer. of course the ubiquitous Som Tum (papaya, tomato and green beans) is here — as are variations with raw marinated blue crab or salted egg — but the menu features less widely available options too. Yum Moo Yor (sausage, red onion and coriander) and Nam Tok Ped (grilled duck, shallot and mint) are also available, also excellent and also very liberally spiced.
The pick in my view, though, is the pork laab — juicy minced pork dressed in nutty roasted rice powder and fiery dried chilli served with coriander, shredded carrot and thick slices of cucumber. As you eat the salad the heat builds, spoonful after spoonful, until your tongue, mouth, throat and eventually your whole head is tingling. Fantastic stuff.
On ordering the laab you will be asked whether you want it spicy or spicy spicy. If you choose the second option then you’re braver than I’ve ever managed to be.
Important to note: the restaurant was previously on Fleet Street, above Motel bar, but has recently relocated to Castle Street.
