Eat. Sleep. Repeat

During the summer we spent almost a month travelling around Thailand and fell in love with the food. I will always remember our first evening in Bangkok, finding a little cafe and feasting on all of this for about 30QR!

Since we came back to Doha we have tried a variety of Thai restaurants so I thought I’d look up the 5 top rated ones on Zomato and use that as a basis for our research. Here’s a brief summary of our findings!

Sabai Thai at the Westin Hotel, Fereej Bin Mahmoud (Zomato rating 4.2)

Food: We had the 3 course business lunch which is available every day except Friday. All four of us agreed the food was well executed and tasted authentic. We were asked what level of spice we would like (I opted for ‘less spice’) therefore you can tailor the food to to suit your palette to some extent. The business lunch was served like a bento box with the starter, main course and rice arriving at the same time with dessert served afterwards.The food was lovely and fresh bursting with flavour and the portion size was perfect for lunchtime.

Service: welcoming, friendly and professional throughout.

Price: 65 QR for 3 courses with a soft drink /90QR for 3 courses with special beverage. On the a la carte menu starters 40-70QR, mains 70- 140QR, desserts 45- 50QR

Summary: A beautifully designed restaurant perfect for couples, families and groups who would like authentic Thai food with excellent service. I would definitely go back and try the Friday brunch /a la carte menu.

My rating for Zomato: 5.0

Baan Thai, Muaither (Zomato rating  4.2)

Food: We opted to share a selection of salads, appetizers, mains and desserts between 4 of us. We were asked how spicy we’d like the food and we opted for medium however we didn’t find any real heat in any of the dishes so if you like spicy food you may want to emphasis this. We were served the salad and appetizers first followed by main courses. The food arrived quickly and we could watch it being prepped and cooked through the large window at the back of the restaurant.

Service: Welcoming, friendly and relaxed throughout.

Price: 3 appetizers, 1 salad, 4 mains, rice, noodles, 3 desserts, 4 soft drinks, 3 coffees 425QR

Summary:  Overall the food was fine but nothing exciting. We felt there was no real distinction of flavour in any of the dishes, nothing made my taste buds dance, some dishes felt more ‘western’ Chinese than Thai. In terms of value for money it was average. I can see why it’s popular with people who live in the area especially as a take away but I wouldn’t go out of my way to eat there.

My rating for Zomato: 3.5

Isaan at the Grand Hyatt, West Bay (Zomato rating 4.4)

Food: Greg opted for the Ba -mee (noodle) menu where you can select 4 dishes for 100QR whereas I chose a starter and main from the a la carte menu. We were asked how spicy we would like to food and we asked for just a little spice which was perfect.We asked for all the dishes to be served at the same time and they were brought to our table when they were ready. The food arrived quickly and we could watch it being prepped and cooked at the 3 open kitchens. The food tasted very authentic, perhaps better than some of the food we ate in Thailand!

Service: Welcoming, friendly and relaxed throughout.

Price: 4 dishes from the Ba – mee menu, 1 appetiser, 1 main, 2 desserts, 1 wine, 1 whiskey, 1 bottle of water 398QR.

Summary:  Overall the food was superb, each dish was a delicate balance of flavours with good quality ingredients and it was all freshly cooked. We liked the complimentary chicken amuse bouche and the lemongrass and ginger tea. In terms of value for money we thought it was excellent, especially the 4 dishes for 100QR. We would definitely go back here especially to the brunch so we can try a larger selection of dishes. In fact I’d drive there just for the mango with sticky rice!

My rating for Zomato: 5.0

Jasmine Thai in Souk Wakif ( Zomato rating 3.9)

Food: We opted to share starters and mains and again asked for ‘not too spicy’. Our starters were brought just a few minutes after ordering which suggested they weren’t made to order. Our mains were took slightly longer but lacked heat and a punch of flavour.The mango on the dessert was past it best and the coconut sauce was watery.

Service : Welcoming, friendly.

Price : 272QR for 3 starters, 2 mains, rice, 1 dessert and 3 soft drinks .

Summary : Overall the food was fairly disappointing. The starters did not seem very fresh (the papaya in the som tam salad was very limp) and the although the main courses were better they didn’t ‘wow’ us. The dessert priced at 60QR was a let down as the mango was past it’s best and the coconut sauce was watery. I felt the food was quite expensive and serving dishes with 1/3 of the plate filled with lettuce, cucumber and tomato was a waste. For a Thursday night the restaurant was fairly quiet and lacked atmosphere.

My rating for Zomato: 3.0

Thai corner, Al Muntazah ( Zomato rating 4.0)

Food: We actually rung up and ordered delivery which came within 30 minutes. We weren’t asked about spice levels but luckily chili sauce, spices and peanuts came on the side, there was no heat in any of the dishes apart from the salad.Everything arrived warm and well packaged and the portion sizes were adequate. The food was quite tasty and the papaya salad was crispy and crunchy. The food wasn’t too greasy but the noodles were a little stodgy.

Service: The order was placed very easily and the delivery arrived within 30 minutes of ordering which was good for a Saturday night.

Price: 119QR for fish cakes, egg fried rice with chicken, pad Thai with prawns, beef in oyster sauce, papaya salad and delivery.

Summary: Overall a pretty average takeaway. I didn’t feel the dishes had a huge amount of distinctive flavours apart from the papaya salad and the oyster sauce was fairly watery -I did enjoy the fried rice. I would probably order from here again if I wanted Thai food delivered quickly at a reasonable price.

My rating for Zomato: 3.5

So overall we have eaten a wide range of Thai food in the last few weeks, some better than others. Where do you go in Doha to get your Thai fix?!

*Please note I was a guest of Sabai Thai and Isaan but all opinions and photos are my own*