Since sampling more vegan dishes this January (or Veganuary which we half got involved in because we were still dating meat, but making a conscious effort to also eat more vegan dishes) our house has definitely gotten into vegetables and meat substitutes. I used to eat Quorn before when I attempted to go veggie and I did enjoy it, but not enough to give up meat. However that was 10 years ago, and since then natural protein has hit restaurants and supermarkets with amazing alternatives to meat - one of which is Daring Foods Chick*n - a soya protein which rivals the chicken we're used to eating.
We were invited to Thaikhun Thai Street Food in Southampton to sample their new vegan menu with Daring Chick*n dishes - I was super excited as we both love Thai food, and wanted to give more vegan dishes a go to take inspiration from and go more plant based in our home!
I love the decor of Thaikhun - although I have never been to Thailand myself, Liam is just a little bit obsessed by the country and has told me that Thaikhun actually does represent what an eatery in Thailand would look like. Plus seeing the chefs prepare the food is a lot of fun and you can tell they're cooking with love and fun in the kitchen! I especially loved the little touches throughout the restaurant like the baskets placed over cutlery buckets - this is common practice in Thailand to ensure no flies land on the cutlery!
Thaikhun's vegan menu is great - you can order from the main menu where many dishes are vegan/veggie friendly or swap out the meat for tofu options; and there is a dedicated vegan menu filled with Thai delights. We went for the Chick*n Satay BBQ Skewers with Peanut Sauce & cucumber relish; and Chick*n & Vegetable Spring Rolls with carrot, cabbage, taro and vermicelli served with sweet chilli sauce.
I'll be honest with you guys - when the starters came out, I thought we had ordered the wrong thing. The skewers looked SO MUCH LIK CHICKEN I panicked that I ordered real chicken skewers and screwed up my review. I didn't say anything but just sussed Liams reaction who I think thought the same. Both of the dishes smelled amazing so I just had to grab a skewer and see what it was!
The Daring Chick*n was amazing - these skewers were vegan but looked exactly like chicken, and tastes (dare I say it) even better than BBQ chicken skewers. Full of flavour and so tender this chick*n dish was incredible. And the spring rolls - crunchy, soft, flavoursome with pieces of chick*n in every mouthful. We were both pleasantly surprised to taste the Daring Foods Chick*n range and were so excited to sample more after the starters! I would also recommend the guava or pineapple juice to accompany your meals - these two were delicious!
We then ordered the Tamarind Cauliflower Grilled Steak on rice topped with a sweet tangy sauce and crispy onions; and the Thai Green Curry With Chick*n, Coconut Milk, Butternut Squash, broad beans and vegetables, basil & chillies served with rice. Thai green curry is one of my favourite dishes and I usually have it with chicken or prawns but I had no doubts after tasting the starters that the Daring Chick*n alternative would be amazing! And I was right - the curry was flavoursome and spicy, aromatic, with a crunch from the vegetables and the tasty chick*n pieces. I could have eaten another bowl of it - but honestly the portions are great because these filled us up, but not to the point that it was uncomfortable.
The cauliflower steak was also delicious - I really licked the texture of the cauliflower and the tangy sauce it was served with. I love cauliflower but mostly just steam in so seeing this vegetable as the hero of the dish was fab - I'm definitely going to try and recreate cauliflower steak in some form at home as part of our veggie dinners!
The presentation of the meals was great too - everything looked so great and filled with colour that you just couldn't wait to indulge! But there was also a healthy attraction to the food - this is the perfect meal to indulge in when you go out but not leave feeling bloated or like you have eaten way too much! We even had a little room for pudding...
I can't get over how tasty the vegan menu in Thaikhun is, and how delicious Daring Foods Chick*n is!! I actually spent the car journey home thinking I can't wait to eat chick*n again - especially in the Thai green curry sauce!
I would 100% recommend going to Thaikhun if you are vegan and want to try some delicious Thai food - and if you're a meat eater, but want to eat delicious food because honestly meat was not missed one bit throughout this meal.
This has inspired us even further to cook more plant and vegetable based meals at home so after Thaikhun we did our weekly food shop and included tofu, vegan chicken alternatives (as close as we could possible get to the Chick*n we had at Thaikhun) and plant based steak. I'm excited to have fun playing with vegetables in the kitchen this week - I'll let you know how it goes on my Instagram!
Find out more about Thainkun - visit their website: Thaikhun Southampton
*The food and drink featured in this post was complimentary for review purposes from Thainkhun. All views are my own.
No comments
Post a Comment