Sukhothai continues to evolve – and is as popular as ever, writes Richard Abbey.

When you open a successful restaurant it must be very easy to rest and your laurels and maintain that same formula that keeps customers coming through the door. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, right?

Sukhothai first opened in Chapel Allerton, Leeds in 2002 and has done anything but rest on its laurels. Keen to build on its success, head chef and owner Ban Kaewkraikhot opened further restaurants in Leeds and Harrogate as well as launching the Thai street food chain, Zaap.

Few chefs in the country know Thai food like Ban. She ran a successful restaurant in Bangkok for eight years, before relocating to the UK and puts Sukhothai’s success down to super-attentive service, an imaginative yet authentic menu and flying the most amazing, fresh Thai ingredients into its kitchens every week.

All were on display on our recent visit to Sukhothai’s Leeds city centre venue, which is located conveniently on South Parade, a short walk from the train station and close to the main shopping areas as well as a multitude of pubs and bars. 

We arrived early on a midweek evening to find an already busy restaurant, which only filled up further as the night progressed. It’s testament to the popularity of the restaurant and the vibrancy of Leeds city centre, which retains the kind of buzz many similar cities seem to have lost. 

Sukhothai South Parade is an impressive space with vaulted ceilings and a large dining room divided by a staircase which leads down to a further basement dining area. The décor is in-keeping with the other restaurants with lots of gold, dark wood and ornamental statues. Staff, many attired in traditional Thai dress (gold of course), weave between the tables with efficient ease bringing all manner of impressive-looking dishes to the waiting tables. 

The restaurant has a small bar area in the entrance and it’s as good a place as any to start – we nibbled on prawn crackers and chilli dip whilst we perused the extensive menu, which runs to over 20 pages.

As well as the a la carte and set menus, Sukhothai also offer an Early Evening Menu, which operates Monday to Friday from 5-6.30pm where diners can enjoy two courses (one starter, one main) for £20.

One recent change at Sukhothai is the introduction of a new Signature cocktail menu, many of which are made with the vibrant flavours of Thai ingredients. You can enjoy a Sukhothai twist on a Negroni, a Martini, or as I opted for, an Old Fashioned. 

The Golden Kingdom (£12.50), as it was so grandly named, combined the richness and strength of Thai Sangsom Whisky with the delightful flavours of chocolate and orange bitters. It arrived at the table in a smoke-filled glass dome, providing not only a touch of theatre when it was removed, but leaving fragrant aromas swirling around your nostrils. It tasted pretty good too, sweeter that a traditional Old Fashioned but with those familiar bitter notes and orange undertones. 

Not one for theatre, my dining companion opted for a simple Thai Singha beer (£4.50).

After a bit of back and forth through the menu we decided to start with one of the sharing platters and chose what we were told was the most popular – the Sukhothai platter (£11.75 per person). This came with an assortment of satay chicken, chicken spring rolls, Thai fishcakes, sweetcorn cakes and king prawns in batter with peanut sauce and a freshly made sweet chilli sauce. It was a real showcase of Thai food with sweet, sour, hot and spicy flavours that all married together perfectly.

We followed this with dishes of Gai Yang (£17.75), a popular Thai street food dish consisting of chargrilled chicken breast, marinated in black pepper and lime leaves, and served on a sizzling hot platter with a spicy tamarind sauce, and Pad Gratium Prik Thai (£16.95), which translated as stir-fried king prawns with plenty of garlic and cracked black pepper, topped with crispy garlic.

The tamarind sauce was just delicious and paired beautifully with the moist chicken, which had a hint of spice, whilst the meaty prawns had a warm, peppery flavour.

We complemented both dishes with some Khao Niew Thai sticky rice (£4.25), which arrived in little bamboo baskets. 

Despite a good selection of desserts, including Yee Kwan ice cream, we declined the offer and headed out into the night.

Sukhothai continues to impress and it’s easy to see why the restaurant is a consistent award-winner. Repeated recognition has come in the form of being named as one of the top ten Thai restaurants in the country by The Times and Sunday Times as well as multiple listings in The Good Food Guide. On this evidence, it’s easy to see why.

Sukhothai

15 South Parade, Leeds LS1 5QS

Tel: 0113 242 2795

www.sukhothai.co.uk