The problem with Thai food had always been lack of imagination and a very conservative, non-existent even, sense of adventure. My experience with this kind of food then was very limited and I was unable to commit to whether I was a fan or not. Imagine my delight when, during a general conversation about the wonder and glory that is Chinese food and my attempt to summarily dismiss the 'run of the mill' Thai green curry as bland and uneventful, I was, quite correctly, put in my place by a couple who contended, 'you obviously haven't tried Sukhothai in Marbella.'
And so it was that a couple of weeks later we arranged and made a reservation at Sukhothai, on Marbella's Golden Mile. Reservations are recommended as the restaurant is a little on the cosy side and they're only open for dinner and is very popular. Instantly on arrival it was clear why. A cosy, nicely lit and immaculately decorated restaurant with the same far eastern flavour we were shortly to sample, accompanied the subtlest of tunes in the background, the combined effect of which was a marked air of distinction from your average asian eatery.
The attentive waiting staff showed us to our table and shortly thereafter offered us our first drinks of the evening. The lovely couple who had brought us here, as big fans of the style of food and masters of the menu, were left to order for us all. The evening got off to a wonderful if fiery start with some deliciously fragrant soup. This was followed by some chicken satay pinchitos which must be tried by everyone as these were really delicious.
As a main course we were then treated to a variety of dishes, amongst which was one of the stalwarts of Thai cuisine, the Thai red curry. It was in sampling this wonderfully creamy yet fresh dish that I realised where I had gone wrong with Thai food from the very beginning. I suppose it is my duty to confess that my only previous experience of Thai food had been from a take-away/eat-in restaurant. The Thai red (and green, incidentally) curries I had sampled from this restaurant had, to our minds, always been far too thin, sauces with no substance which simply wouldn't 'cling.' Dismissing this as the norm owing to our limited experience we were misled and sincerely believed that Thai was a far weaker experience on the whole than your average Chinese meal. I have no quarms with admitting that I was quite wrong and that I had no idea what a quality Thai meal was all about.
We were also served certain stir fried seafood and vegetables in some spicy but oh-so-tasty sauces, along with plenty of sticky rice, washed down by plenty of white wine.
My lack of patience and control meant that I would be in no condition to sample desserts. And so it was that I had suffered a fundamental shift in my estimation of Thai food. In a couple of hours i went from indifference to infatuation. Couldn't care less to couldn't get enough! Perhaps it was the setting, the service, the food or a combination of all of these factors put together. Sukhothai Restaurant in the Marbellamar Centro Comercial in Marbella was an authentic experience which i genuinely recommend, if only to help you establish in your own minds the benchmark of good wholsesome Thai food.
Tel. 952 770 550
Open Monday-Saturday for dinner
Written by
Selwyn Figueras
Selwyn's blog
(Remember that you can submit your own articles about anything to do with Spain. Just click the "Submit article" link below. We look forward to your contributions.)