A rare date night at Woburn Thai

Our last date day was a pre-lockdown breakfast at Nonna’s, and an evening meal out was even longer ago. So, when my mum was staying an extra night to look after Alfie on Saturday (as I was back to Nonna’s for brunch with the girls), I jumped at the chance of a date night out. In true Luce fashion, I left it until Wednesday (two days before) to book, but thankfully managed to get a reservation at Woburn Thai for 8pm.

I’d heard good things from work about Woburn Thai, but we’d never been there before. Since moving, our Thai takeaways have come from Blue Orchid in Aspley Guise. But I love Thai cuisine, it’s my favourite – and when I was living in Brentwood, there were a couple of great restaurants.

On arrival, our temperature and names were taken, before we were shown to our table. There was a laminated track and trace sheet for us to scan, but we had both used the QR code at the restaurant’s entrance while we were waiting to be attended to. Our waitress was ready to take our drinks order straight away, and I sipped a lovely cold glass of rosé while perusing the menu. In the meantime, we had a portion of Thai prawn crackers.

More often than not, we’ll share dishes, but I always choose the same. Beef penang is my go-to curry and my absolute favourite. This time, Ash suggested going for one of the set menus – so we did that. I was worried we wouldn’t eat it all, as while it was two courses and tea or coffee, it was a lot of food: the mixed starters platter, and a selection of dishes for the main course.

To start, mixed hors d’oeuvres

We’d demolished the prawn crackers and spicy dipping sauce by the time the starters arrived. Vegetable spring rolls and tempura tiger prawns served in a wonton basket, as well as fried chicken wings, satay chicken and sesame prawn toast. Delicious! And everything was really tasty – particularly the chicken wings, which had the crispiest skin, but the most succulent chicken. The accompanying sauces complemented the snacks well: sweet chilli, satay and that beautiful Thai one with the chopped vegetables. I never know what it is, but I need to find out – I love it! It was a very good start.

A banquet for two

Our main dishes were stir-fried beef with ginger, chilli and soybean paste, Thai green curry with chicken, stir-fried mixed vegetables in oyster sauce and steamed Thai rice.

Again, absolutely nothing could be faulted. I would never have considered ordering a vegetable side dish, but I will now. The vegetables were so flavoursome and not too al dente. I found the Thai green curry fairly mild (it had two chillis on the menu which signified medium spicy), but the beef was my favourite. Not too hot, with a sweet sauce, the beef was gorgeous and the veg was crunchier than the stir-fry. The sauces all soaked into the rice well and I’m honestly still thinking about the feast we shared. Despite hitting a wall, I didn’t leave that much – but of course I had room in my second stomach for dessert!

It’s all about the fritters

As well as our coffees – I can’t even remember what I ordered now – we shared banana fritters. I am always dessert over starters when I go out, but I think Thai (and Chinese) are the only restaurants to break that mould. However, fritters are the one!

That said, they can sometimes be hit and miss. Bad fritters are greasy and soggy, good fritters are dreamy. I was really impressed with the fritters at Woburn Thai. They were coated in desiccated coconut and deep-fried to perfection. The exterior was so crisp, but the banana soft – and the accompanying ice cream and chocolate sauce wasn’t too sweet or overwhelming.

My final thoughts

Service was excellent all night. I was concerned that booking for 8pm would mean we would feel rushed, but that wasn’t the case. The staff were really attentive but stuck to all the guidelines. We were well looked after – with our waitress noticing when our drinks were running low and ensuring everything was to our liking. I couldn’t believe that service charge wasn’t included, but of course, we added that on. For a first meal post-covid, I was very impressed and felt safe. But more importantly, the food was spot on! We will definitely return.

Love, Lucy xx

Woburn Thai - 2 Leighton Street, Woburn, Milton Keynes MK17 9PJ
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