My Thai Gripe - Mangosteen: Earl's Court, 5th of November, 2010

This meal wouldn't usually merit a review in that it was horribly brief, inconsequential and unappetising. The only reason I write about this here is to dispel (at least personally) that most bizarre of auras which surrounds Thai food in England.

People seem to love this stuff. It's hip'n'trendy east end fodder for the masses, re-fuel for Soho bohemian drinkers, pretentious lunch for city poseurs and generally loved in a way that I cannot wrap my head around. There are, I believe, two reasons for my ambivalence toward Thai food: sourness and spiciness. Two things I do not look for in my food. Thai food has these in spades.

This bonfire night, I was thoroughly underwhelmed by a variety of dishes which either burned my mouth into oblivion or blanded it into boredom. The green curry was nutty and lifeless, the chicken was fiery and mushy, the salad was a mixture of raw carrots, chillies and beansprouts and the soup was as unappetising as any thin, insubstantial Asian soup could be.

My advice is to not bother with Mangosteen, but I would urge you to go one further and stop with Thai food altogether. Maybe I'm just in a bad mood today, or maybe having to recall this dire meal has put me in one, but it's time we took a stand and stopped pretending that the kind of useless rubbish which is sent our way in such pretentiously-endorsed guises is any good. I'm sure there is good Thai food out there somewhere. You clearly just have to look bloody hard for it.