Chester is about to get its third Thai restaurant featuring a relaxed atmosphere with decor including hanging bicycles, rural paraphernalia and the front half of a tuk tuk taxi.
Businessman Ice Rattaphaet, 32, who grew up in Kent but has Thai heritage, is behind the £160,000 venture, which is about to open in Upper Northgate Street under the name ‘Nine Elephants – Thai drink and dine’.
Apparently the shape of an elephant, the national animal of Thailand, bears an uncanny resemblance to the number nine in Thai. And the name of the restaurant was conceived in homage to His Majesty, the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej, also known as King Rama the 9th, who is revered in Thailand.
Ice explained the vision behind the venue, which opens to the public on Saturday, January 13: “It’s a Thai drink and dine concept – the reason I didn’t go for a restaurant or a bistro or café or bar is because I think it limits your audience.”
So at night Nine Elephants may look more like a traditional bar and restaurant but it will also open afternoons with the full menu available in addition to Thai coffees, smoothies and herbal teas and snacks for those wanting to pop in for a gentle drink and a chat.
Eventually, there will be a little jasmine garden to the rear for sipping in the sun plus a flat screen TV for watching sporting events like the World Cup.
Ice, who says the dishes will have western-friendly names, continued: “Thai food is all about sharing. In Thailand we don’t have starters. The starters you see on our menu like, for example, satays, the dumplings and all that, it’s all street food. People walk on the street and buy it off stalls and eat on the street. We don’t sit down.
“A meal just consists of mains. Say four of us go out for dinner; we would order a main each, to share with a sharing spoon, so you get sweet, sour, all the different tastes. That’s what Thai food is all about – different tastes in one sitting. But of course you don’t have to share if you don’t want to!
“Basically our mains consist of stir fries, a very popular one like the basil stir fry – also curries, noodle dishes, both soup noodles and dry noodles and we do a number of chef recommended dishes, chef’s specials. ”
The cuisine will be cooked by authentic Thai chefs and packed with nutritionally valuable herbs. Staff will be trained in being able to explain the health benefits of, for example, ginger, lemon grass and the various herbal teas.
Thai desserts will be on offer as well as ice cream and fruit.
And there’s good news for veggies because there is a specific vegetarian menu. Prices will be ‘mid to upper range’ with student discounts.
The licensed premises will sell Asian beers, Thai-themed cocktails, with fun names like ‘Thai-rish Coffee’ and ‘Gin and Thai Tonic’, but also non-alcoholic mocktails and will also pride itself on marrying the rights wines with the right flavours, including spicy dishes.
Ice says Nine Elephants, which will employ 10-12 staff, is his family’s first restaurant in the UK but in Thailand the entrepreneurial Rattaphaets run Japanese restaurants and a language school.
