www.pryordurkin.com

Along with some colleagues I found myself dining at the Boddington & Dragon on Racecourse Road in Wilmslow. The restaurant set at the back of this large public house sets out to serve up traditional Thai food in modern stylish surroundings, by reasonably friendly staff.  We arrived a little after 8pm, found the restaurant empty and sat at a large round table with paper napkins (I hate those things).  The front of house pub was reasonably busy with a few locals and people who were also staying in the Premier Inn which sits at the back of the Boddington & Dragon.  (Breakfast for guests at the Premier Inn is actually served in the Thai restaurant space)

Our drinks order was quickly taken and after looking through the extensive menu (always a worry for me) we placed our orders. We chose a mixtures of starters that included the Kingfisher Platter at £9.95, which was made up of BBQ pork spare ribs, Thai fish cakes, aromatic duck spring rolls, steamed prawn dim sum and sesame prawn toast. We also ordered the Tiger Platter at £9.95 which consisted of Grilled tiger prawns, chicken satay, salt and pepper squid, vegetable spring rolls and Thai fish cakes. Both starters were served with sweet chilli sauce and satay sauce for dipping.

Unfortunately the descriptions sound better than the food which in my opinion, was pretty standard.  While it had clearly being prepared in a Thai run kitchen that was impeccably spotless, I felt the ingredients were pretty poor.  Knowing how Paul prepares his own Thai cooking, I know it is important to use fresh good quality ingredients to get those full fragrant flavours coming through.

For mains, I opted for the Gai Kaeng Kiew Wan at £7.65 which was a traditional Green Chicken Curry and Kao Suay Traditional Thai Fragrant Rice at £2.75.  If you were hungry then this would be the main to order as the portions were very generous indeed. However, again the fragrant flavours I prefer were missing in my chicken curry and the chunky bell peppers grated on my teeth when I was biting into them.  It was hot and creamy though, which given the freezing weather outside, was welcome indeed.

In summary, the surroundings nice and clean, the service reasonably friendly and the prices reasonable, but for my liking, it didn’t quite hit the spot as traditional Thai cooking goes.

Pryordurkin rating 3 stars.