by Richard Montague

Madhur Jaffrey once said, “You think of a curry and your mouth lights up in anticipation”. This is very much the way I feel about curries, therefore every time I go to a Thai restaurant that specialises in using aromatic ingredients, my interest is piqued and I hope that the flavours have been used in an exciting way. Thai food has always been, for me at least, a bit of a treat, a wonderful way of blending subtle, fragrant flavours with the fiery heat of chillies. The general absence of drier spices, such as cumin and coriander seed, make for more delicate, though no less flavoursome dishes which I love, but only when executed well.

When you walk in to Sang Thai, cosseted away in Sheen Road, slightly out of the hustle and bustle of the main street in Richmond, you are greeted in a traditional Thai manner, with a wai, the hands placed together, small bow and cordial welcome. The décor is dominated by elephants, the national symbol of Thailand, but this is tastefully done and – not just because this is my favourite animal — I liked it.

On the table were fresh flowers, crystal wine glasses, engraved with more elephants, and some seriously tasty spicy crackers. The little touches suggested that someone in the restaurant had a fine eye for detail, it only remained to see if this extended to the food.

The menu covers an impressive selection of meat, fish and vegetarian meals, as you would expect, but apart from green and red curries, many of the dishes were specific, you would not generally find a pork dish similar to a fish one as the herbs and spices seem to be matched to the ingredients. For example the only meat matched with the powerful, sour tamarind was duck, while lemongrass was limited to the seafood and chicken, where it was more likely to complement than be overpowered.

The wine list is not extensive, but includes a good selection from across the world, from rounded new world reds to lighter fragrant whites, many of which would match adequately with the Thai flavours.

When choosing starters we would normally select at least one of our favourites, something like tom yum soup or fish cakes loaded with coriander and red chilli. However, this went out the window after a chance glimpse of the Sang Thai platter on its way to an adjacent table, a selection of tapas-like starters, arranged around what can only be described as the most impressive food sculpture I have ever seen. This was a swan in flight carved from carrot and pieces of red chilli fitted together by someone whose talents are probably better displayed in an art gallery than a restaurant.

These small tasters that surrounded the Tate Modern centrepiece comprised, amongst others, dim sum, prawn tempura and thankfully our beloved fish cakes. We were directed to consume each of the mouthfuls with a different dip, fish sauce, soy and chilli with the dim sum and the Gai Sarong, (a rather lovely minced chicken spiced with garlic and fresh coriander wrapped in filo pastry), sweet chilli and plum sauce with the prawn tempura, and so on. Pleasingly, the meticulous presentation was mirrored in the food and the appetisers were well constructed with a balanced juxtaposition of texture.

For mains we opted for panang pla, a whole seabass cooked in red curry sauce, lime leaves and coconut milk; pad hoy, a sizzling plate of scallops stir fried with asparagus; sticky rice; and pad Thai with prawns, the classic rice-noodle dish stir-fried with egg, spring onions, bean sprouts and crushed peanuts.

When it arrived, the presentation was predictably impressive, but that was all overshadowed when we began to eat, mainly because we started on the seabass. This was one of the most exquisite dishes I have eaten, beautifully cooked fish with a truly sublime sauce, a pleasure on the palate, light and beautifully seasoned with a satisfying chilli-kick to finish.

The scallops were good but not outstanding, stir fried with a little soy, garlic and spring onion and, more importantly, not overcooked as I feared they might be after five minutes on a sizzling hotplate. The pad Thai was very well flavoured, the citrus acid of the lemon cut beautifully through the nutty noodles, as well as complementing a more than adequate portion of large prawns, so many in fact that we could not finish them all.

However, this is probably a good thing as I might have been fairly scathing if I thought I had been short-changed, this is admittedly the Yorkshire side of me ensuring I get what I pay for, I certainly don’t believe that large portions make up for any kind of mediocrity, but woe betide anyone who tries to pass off a substandard portion and then charges through the nose for it.

Speaking of price, the starters ranged from £5 to £6 each (our mixed starter was £6.50 each). The seafood dishes were at the more expensive end of the range at around £12, but most of the main courses were around £8. I would not say it is cheap but in my opinion the standard of cuisine is worth the extra money.

This is not to say everything was perfect; the carpet was a little worn, the after dinner chocolates had been exposed to too much heat and were discoloured, but the standard of service throughout was so good that these small issues paled into insignificance.

So while it is certainly not the place to go if you have a consuming fear of elephants, if you really appreciate well-executed Thai food, Sang Thai is definitely worth a visit.