Monday 21 January 2019

REVIEW: THE GIGGLING SQUID, BISHOP'S STORTFORD

 
Happy New Year! Okay, so we’re a bit late for that, but as I haven’t posted yet in 2019, we’ll say it anyway! I hope you’ve had a fab January so far. This year, I decided that January wasn’t going to be dull and miserable as it so often tends to be, but instead, it’s been filled with lots of cosy nights in, day trips to different Cities and a whole lot of dining out and trying all the good vegan food. So, you can imagine how thrilled I was when I was invited along to try out The Giggling Squid, a new Thai restaurant right here in my home town. It’s somewhere I’d been meaning to try anyway and I’m pretty obsessed with Thai food so it couldn’t have been more perfect! So, last Thursday, Jack and I went along to give it a go and it’s safe to say I was pretty excited.
 
 
The first thing that struck me on walking into the restaurant was just how pretty it was. The Décor is all pastels and florals and it’s incredibly light and bright which I just loved. It’s super quirky and just so instagrammable! I didn’t take too many pictures as the main part of the restaurant was pretty busy and I didn’t want to be snapping photos of poor unsuspecting people trying to enjoy their dinner! I’d definitely recommend checking out the Giggling Squid website though, as all their locations are just gorgeous.

 
Before we were sat down, we were asked if we needed any alternative menus, which is a huge bonus for me. A lot of restaurants offer a vegan or at least vegetarian menu these days, but many won’t offer it unless you ask. I said that I was vegan and was given a vegan/ veggie menu with lots of completely vegan options, all clearly marked with a VE so I knew exactly what I was looking at. There were a ton of options, but I decided to go classic and had a starter of Spring Rolls and a main of Vegetable Red Curry. I wanted to go for my usual favourites to see how they compared to other Thai places I’ve been to. I can honestly say the Red Curry was the best I’ve had. The portion size was a little big for me, but that could’ve been something to do with the three spring rolls and two glasses of wine I’d already had before! It was super creamy, but not too rich and fragrant without being too strong. Jack isn’t typically a fan of creamy Thai curries as he finds them too ‘perfumey’, but even he approved, high praise indeed! The spring rolls were lovely too, super fresh and full of flavour.


The staff were just wonderful, they were super attentive and well informed. The service was quick, but with enough time between drinks, starters and mains so that you didn’t feel rushed, despite the restaurant being fairly busy. Something I particularly liked was the layout of the tables. There’s plenty of space in the restaurant and lots of tables, but they’re not too close to one another. Someone elses chair practically touching the back of mine during a meal is a huge bug bear for me, so this is a huge bonus.


Overall, I couldn't recommend The Giggling Squid enough, the food, staff and restaurant were all just wonderful and we had a lovely evening there. We will absolutely be back!

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