Nipa restaurant
'Discover great quality, Thai ingredients' at Nipa

Nipa Thai Restaurant

Open Mon–Fri midday–2pm; Mon–Sat 6.30pm–10.30pm

Not many people seem to know about Nipa, the Thai restaurant on Lancaster Gate, probably because it is tucked away inside the Royal Lancaster Hotel above the tube station. Wednesday lunch was quiet, but that did mean that we were able to sit at a table by the window and enjoy commanding views over the Italian Gardens in Hyde Park.

As one of only fifteen Thai restaurants in London to have been awarded a Thai Select Award from the Thai government, I was intrigued to see if this would guarantee top quality food. We were here to try the new Khantok (a circular tray which holds five dishes at once – perfect for a quick meal) lunchtime menu (£14.90) and  the charming Thai waiter introduced us to the Ping and Wang (names of rivers in Thailand) set menus. Both included a starter (fish cakes or spring rolls), curry (chicken or beef), rice, stir-fried veg and pudding (fresh fruit or coconut ice cream). Sometimes a limited choice eliminates those horrible restaurant choices which inevitably lead to food envy, but in other cases it would be nice to have a slightly larger menu to pick from. For my friend, a vegetarian who doesn’t eat fish, we needed to ask for a selection of meat-free dishes.

I was impressed by the quality of ingredients; the baby sweetcorn and mushrooms were fresh and tender, the meat was succulent and our curries were full of bright red chillies, lime and baby aubergines. My friend’s curry did not suffer from being meat-free and her special veggie spring rolls were just the right balance of crispy pastry and flavoursome filling.
We decided that a glass of wine on such a hot day would send us both straight to sleep, so we tried a Thai iced tea instead – a refreshing glass of sweet fruit puree, milk and ice. We rounded off our meal with coconut ice cream, one of my favourites, despite the calorific content. It was creamy and full of real coconut, a lovely finish to a satisfying meal.

My only complaint is the lack of choice in the lunchtime menu – a fish dish and noodles would be good options.

Lunch for two, with soft drinks, around £40.

Nipa Thai, 1st Floor, Royal Lancaster Hotel, Lancaster Terrace, London, W2; www.niparestaurant.co.uk; 020 7551 6039

Restaurants |