Having grown up with the British pub version of Thai food, my love for it grew even more once I actually visited Thailand and ate the food there. I ate in some very fancy places in Bangkok and on the Island of Koh Phangan.

But it was on Koh Phangan where we ventured out from our stunning beach resort and headed into a local village. There we found a wonderful lady in a glorified shed serving up the most incredible food I tried on my entire time in Thailand .What a revelation it was, it was fresher, lighter and best of all she didn’t hold back on the chillies.

So back in London I have always had my eye out for a true Thai food gem.

Jane-Tira is an unassuming hole in the wall restaurant next to Brewer Street car park. Blink and you’ll miss it. But make sure you don’t…Jane-Tira may be small but it is perfectly formed.

I started with chicken wings with crispy shallot. They were moist and delicious and the shallot was a lovely addition and added a good flavour and texture balance.

Then I had the calamari bites, soft and succulent with a light batter, they were showered with chilli, Thai herbs and crisp slices of garlic. They were exactly what I was looking for.

My partner had the vegetarian spring rolls, crisp, fresh and obviously homemade…simply lovely.

Then it came to the main course. I love my chilli so when I read the words ‘challenging hot’ on the menu I knew it was for me. That’s how they describe their mackerel curry.

I have had mackerel curry in Sri Lankan restaurants before but never even seen one listed in a Thai restaurant, so it was a double must have for me.

The mackerel curry arrived at the table, a deep, rich dark brown, it did look quite unassuming.

The first mouthful was an explosion of heat…wow I thought, this is serious stuff. The next mouthful felt even hotter. This was a builder, the heat moving up levels as you try to move on to a place of ‘comfort’. It reminded me of the Iraq war phrase ‘shock and awe’…the first bite shocks you and then you are in awe of the fact it can get that much hotter!

Through the sweat that was appearing on my brow and the tears that were building up in my eyes I soldiered on through the curry.

A big surprise for me was that the flavour of the mackerel held it’s own against the searing heat. The slices of pickled bamboo shoot also gave great flavour through the spice.

It was hot, but it was delicious!

I ignored my beer and faced the curry eating right down to the bottom of the bowl. I did at one point try a spoonful of my partner’s veggie green curry, she swore it was hot but I couldn’t taste it at all. In fact it offered some relief!

Once I had finished the waitress looked at the empty bowl and then at me and said “not many people do that”…

This IS a truly authentic Thai restaurant and the gem I have been looking for.

I urge you to try Jane-Tira, maybe not the mackerel curry (unless you like it ‘challenging’!) but try the whole menu, as it’s the closest you will get to being in Thailand.

Please remember to share if you have been to Jane-Tira in the comments below.

www.jane-tira.co.uk

Michael Robinson

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The Food Curator

The Food Curator (AKA Michael Robinson) is an aficionado of all things food and bon viveur based in London. A passion for cooking and dining has driven him to put fingers to keyboard to bring you his thoughts on the world of food. When not writing, eating or cooking he has a love of American muscle cars. Pop on over to my Facebook page and let's start a Facebook food revolution together: http://tinyurl.com/thefoodcurator

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