"What is it with Manchester and Thai restaurants? The quality on offer is not only better than anywhere else in Europe but they also put most of the other restaurants in town to shame. The likes of Chaophraya, Vermilion, Thai Lounge [now Buddha Lounge] and Ikan [now closed] have raised the bar for most restaurants in Manchester to follow, and they've certainly increased expectations when you vistit other Thai restaurants, especially those who have been on the scene for sometime.
Pacific have certainly risen to the challenge - on the top floor of this excellent Chinatown restaurant (you have to go through Pacific China to get to Pacific Thai). Not as aesthetically pleasing as their multi-million pound rivals, the focus here is certainly on the food and, it has to be said, we came away proclaiming it was up there with the best Thai meals we have had in Manchester.
With so many banquets, Thai specialities, traditional curries and vegetarian dishes to choose from, the waiters probably get used to being asked for a 'bit more time to read the menu' it's so vast, with too many amazing-sounding dishes for just one visit. We eventually opted for the Po-Pia Phar-Jan (£6.90), a delicious deep fried crispy thin pancake stuffed with prawns and the Hoy Nung (£5.90), steamed mussels with Thai herbs and chilli sauce, which were infused with all sorts of extremely nice flavours.
The main courses were equally as impressive. The Gang Keowan Hang (£7.90), a dry Thai green curry with chicken, was spicy without being overly so, whilst the milder Med-Mamuang-Himmapan-Haew (£13.50), scallops with cashew nuts and water chestnuts, was still the talking point in our office many days later, it really was that good. Prices were very good and comparable to the other Thai restaurants in town, the fact they accept Hi-Life Diners Card also gave us 2 meals for the price of 1 [2011 update: Hi-Life can now only be used in Pacific China downstairs].
Service was very good, although a little attentive at times, glasses were re-filled on an almost sip by sip basis and plates were cleared rather too quickly, however this is almost something we've come to expect when visiting Thai restaurants. On a positive note, the waiters were also very quick in replacing the trays in the popular Thai lunch buffet, which looked superb and worthy of a try next time we're in Chinatown for lunch. As it is, we're already looking forward to revisiting Pacific Thai for an evening meal. Repeat performance please!" - restaurants of manchester 24/11/08 (visited on a monday afternoon)
