There are over fifty branches of Giggling Squid, with more on the way, but few are in the North of England and I doubt any are as grand as the Leeds branch.
Opened in April, the restaurant is located on Park Row in a grade II building originally constructed in 1909 for the Royal Bank of Scotland.
Andy and Pranee Laurillard opened their first restaurant more than twenty years ago and have established a reputation for quality food and innovative décor. Pranee designs the interiors for all their restaurants and here the green and pink colour scheme echoes original glass domed skylights. The high walls include panels of intricate patterned wallpaper designed by Pranee.
Overall, I felt the modern touches added well to the historic building, but I was unsure of the large silver pots of imitation flowers which did not seem to connect to Thailand, the history of the building or the general decorative scheme.
The surroundings are impressive, but I wanted to see if the food could match the building’s opulence. Leeds City Centre already has many good Thai eateries (Thai Roy Dee, Sukothai, Chaophraya, Zaap, Mommy Thai), so this new venture will have to work hard in an established market. We visited early evening on a Sunday and the restaurant was more than half full, so it seems to be hitting the mark.
Traditionally, Giggling Squid have marketed themselves as Thai Tapas. On previous visits in the Berkshire area I have sampled a range of starters at lunch time. This time I decided to concentrate on the mains. We ordered one starter to share – pork dumplings, followed by Chicken Massaman, Melting Beef from the Signature Dishes section of the menu, jasmine rice and a roti.
I was very pleased to see roti on the menu. I like Thai food but I am also very fond of bread-based sides that you can use to mop up curry. Hence, I will often pick Indian or Malay food over Thai so that I can order naan, paratha or canai roti. This is the first time I’ve seen bread on a Thai menu ,so I had to order a roti. The bread did not disappoint: tt came cut into four large slices, soft but less flaky than a Malay version, and it impressively it kept its texture and did not dry out as it cooled. The roti alone would draw me back here.
Each prawn dumpling was served in a mini bowl surrounded by a rich, gingery soy and rice wine sauce. The sauce was delicious and the little bowls made it easier to bathe each piece of dumpling in maximum sauce. Or so I believed. My companion decanted his onto his plate, claiming the bowls were too fiddly.
The massaman curry was good; a pleasing balance of potato, chicken, carrots, onion and nuts. The danger of massaman is that the potatoes go mushy or are too firm. These were just right. However, the stand-out dish was the Melting Beef. I could see why this was a signature dish. At £18.99, this was more expensive, but well worth the extra cash. Large pieces of beef had been slow-cooked until meltingly tender in a rich red curry sauce. The vegetable element in this dish was provided by green beans and cabbage. In Thailand, cabbage is everywhere, but you seldom find it in UK Thai restaurants. Maybe it’s such a staple that it gets ignored, but it made a wonderful addition to this dish.
I washed my curry down with a bottle of Orchard Pig cider, selected as it’s less gassy than other ciders and suits food. My companion went with a glass of white wine. They offer a variety of wines by the glass, including Thai wine.
The total bill came to £67, including service charge. I was surprised to see that although they add a service before delivering the bill, it is only 7.5%. This seems a very reasonable policy to me, so you can always leave more on the table, but by keeping the charge low few people are likely to decline paying it.
Giggling Squid is a welcome addition to the Leeds restaurant scene.
The restaurant operates both a call and collect and a delivery service.
Follow Giggling Squid on Instagram, TikTok to hear more.
Opening hours: Monday – Sunday 12 noon to 22.30.
27 Park Row, Leeds LS1 5QB
Photography by Debbie Rolls.
