GIGGLING SQUID - NORWICH REVIEW*

Before I get stuck into the review, this will be a post with many photos. The place and the food are incredibly gorgeous, so I had to take as many photos as I could. I had to seriously condense the amount of photos that I wanted in this post as there were so many photos of the stunning restaurant. Giggling Squid in Norwich is located in Tombland, one of my favourite places in Norwich. I love all the book shops and of course the cathedral, so I was happy to hear that Giggling Squid had made its home here. Giggling Squid is a family owned restaurant, and proudly serves authentic, rustic Thai food. You can read all about the history of Giggling Squid on their website here.

As soon as I walked in the staff were lovely and welcoming, and there was a calm and chilled atmosphere. It's lovely to go to a restaurant that's busy but not loud, so you can actually have a calm conversation without having to talk over music. The waiter - who was lovely - asked us what wine we preferred. My guest also pointed out that they were vegetarian, to which they bought out a vegetarian menu which was brilliant. It's nice to not have to filter through a whole menu to find the veggie options, so this instantly gave the restaurant some serious brownie points.

We began drinking our wine as we decided what to eat. The wine was gorgeous - It was way too easy to drink! We asked for a white wine so they bought over a Sauvignon Blanc, which was really, really lovely, going perfectly with the food. We settled on the Vegetarian Sharing Platter, Vegetable Tropical Jungle Curry and the Sea Bass Pad Cha. While that was all going through, the lovely waiter said I can pop up stairs to take some photos, even though it wasn't open to the public. The upstairs was as gorgeous as I expected. With lovely hues of beige and brown, delicately decorated with flowers and pops of colours from books, this restaurant is one of the most chic place to eat - day and night.

 All of the above - Vegetarian Sharing Platter.

The Vegetarian Sharing Platter came out pretty quickly, and it was amazing! The platter consisted of fried tofu, Thai corn fritters, vegetable tempura and vegetable spring roll. These also came with three dipping sauces, each as scrummy as each other and each with a different heat kick. This was a great idea as you could change how much heat you wanted depending on what you were eating. I had never tried tofu before, and the fried tofu almost tastes like a fried bread roll, which is lovely dipped in some sauce! The spring rolls were beautiful. I couldn't stop going on about how amazing the roll itself tasted, and the tempura vegetables were a great accompaniment. The highlight of the platter for me, which was a toss up between this at the spring rolls, were the Thai corn fritters. They were amazing. If I only ate that for the rest of my life I wouldn't complain. These are a mix of sweetcorn, which I never usually like, red curry paste and lime leaves which give it a slight sweet tint, and dipped into the sauce - perfection.

Tropical Jungle Curry with Sticky Rice.

Sea Bass Pad Cha.

Coconut Rice.

Sea Bass Pan Cha.

My Sea Bass Pan Cha was beautiful. The fish was soft and melted in my mouth, and was packed full of flavour. This dish is so aromatic with all its herbs and spices, the sauce and vegetables tasted amazing and never left me bored. Each mouthful was as adventurous as the next. If you love fish and some heat, you'll love this. The Coconut Rice went with the dish perfectly and tasted gorgeous with some vegetables and the sauce from the dish. This was a dream to photograph as the colours look divine - It really does taste as good as it looks. I tried a bit of the Tropical Jungle Curry and it is HOT. I can handle a bit of spice, but even that was pretty hot. That said, I could still taste the flavours with the sticky rice - But I wasn't the one eating the whole dish! If you're a fan of hot food, this is the one to go for as it's not just hot, but bursting with flavour. Instead of having it with vegetables you can have it with either beef or chicken. I love that a lot of the dishes you can choose between chicken, beef and vegetables. It means you can really personalise the dish for yourself and make it perfect for you. There really is a Thai dish for everyone on the menu and you can view the full Norwich menu here.

Chocolate Feuillantine.

Mint & Lychee Sorbet.

All the ice cream and sorbet are made in a tiny Brighton shop at their request, which is lovely knowing that it's made specially. I went for the Mint & Lychee Sorbet, not just because I'm a huge lover of sorbet but I felt the idea of it be a refreshing way to end a meal. It was fruity from the Lychee but fresh because of the mint, so it was a beautiful thing to finish on. It was sweet but not too sweet so I was able to eat it without feeling like I'd eaten too much! I also had a little bit of the Chocolate Feuillantine which was super yum! It's a rich mousse that's chocolatey and soft. I find that rich chocolate mousses can be bitter, but this was perfect! It had the perfect amount of chocolate and the fruit was a lovely side. It also looked stunning - Look at that presentation!

Americano.

Flora "Flowering" Tea.

I went for the Flora "Flowering" Tea to finish the evening off which is made of a handmade lotus flower and jasmine green tea. This ended the evening perfectly, It was good to unwind with a beautiful tea and debrief from the meal and the long day previous, I popped in the little sphere of dried flowers into the teapot and it opens up to reveal a beautiful pink flower. It looked stunning in the teapot and I couldn't believe that it was actually tea! The tea was refreshing and calmed me down, making me feel at ease.

Flora "Flowering" Tea.

I don't need to point out that the food and the restaurant look phenomenal. The staff were one of the stand outs of the evening. Good food is nothing without amazing waiters, waitresses, bar staff and chefs, and the Giggling Squid should be proud of the knowledgeable and approachable staff that they have. Every person I approached that evening was lovely, and a special thank you to the man who served us most of the evening - I wish I had gotten his name! He knew everything there was about everything on the menu, and genuinely seemed  interested in talking to me, which made me feel welcome and eager to come back again.

Overall, if you are wanting to treat yourself or another to a lovely evening meal, Giggling Squid will be highly recommended from me. They also have a lunch menu and tapas, which I am dying to try out (I love tapas!), so there really is something for everyone. 

You can find more information on the

location and opening times here,

or if you want to treat yourself in the comfort

of your home, grab a takeaway here.

Thanks for reading!

*Inivited for review.