Review: Giggling Squid, Cambridge
Accompanied by my wife, I went along to the Cambridge branch of popular Thai restaurant chain Giggling Squid on December 31 to celebrate the new year and to sample some of the food from both the main menu and the festive menu.
Located on Wheeler Street, opposite the Cambridge Corn Exchange, Giggling Squid - described as “Thai with personality” - is housed in the beautiful Old Library Building. Indeed the site boasts a stunning interior with wonderfully high ceilings and eye-catching décor.
There is plenty to choose from on the menu, including an array of meat, seafood, vegetarian and vegan options, so after some time spent deliberating, I finally decided on the golden money bags, crispy parcels of Thai-spiced chicken (it was still a few hours before midnight so Veganuary hadn’t yet started), herbs and vegetables. This very tasty dish is served with homemade sweet chilli sauce, a condiment I always enjoy.
Meanwhile, my wife went for the king oyster mushrooms, which come with coconut milk and yellow curry paste, topped with puffed rice, coriander, dill and pumpkin seeds. Personally, I’m not a fan of any type of mushroom but she certainly enjoyed them!
Between the starter and the main course, we were kindly given some Bangkok fritters, a dish from the restaurant’s special festive menu which ended on New Year’s Eve. Similar in appearance to onion bhajis, these delicious and gently-spiced chickpea and corn fritters are coated with sunflower seeds which give them an extra crunch. Again, there was an always-welcome sweet chilli dip with it, as well as a starfruit, cucumber, jicama and carrot salad with Ajard dressing.
Main course-wise, I opted for Pad Kee Mao, an intriguing dish made up of spicy flat noodles, Tenderstem broccoli, lotus stem, pak choi, sweetheart cabbage, chilli and garlic, and yellow curry-marinated chicken. I have to say it was quite a lot spicier than I had expected but was still highly flavoursome, and I would recommend adding lime to it. It is revealed on the menu that Pad Kee Mao means ‘drunken noodles’ because of their apparent cure for a hangover.
Wholesome cashew stir fry - roasted cashew nuts, mushrooms, peppers, onions and chilli - with the beef option was the main course chosen by my wife, and she had it with a side of garlic pepper-steamed noodles (there are also a number of rice options with which to accompany the stir fries). Needless to say, she loved it.
When it came to pudding, my wife had ice cream from the main menu, while I opted for something from the festive menu: Royal Chocolate Dome, a dome of chocolate mousse and sweet wafer, served with exotic fruit and raspberry coulis. Immediately upon tasting it, it became clear that I had made the right choice.
With so many imaginative dishes to choose from, there is surely something for everyone at Giggling Squid, from hardened Thai food enthusiasts to those less familiar with Thai cuisine, and if you fall into the latter category, why not try something new this 2023?
[Read more: Giggling Squid restaurant in Cambridge celebrates launch of new cookbook]
Giggling Squid first launched in Brighton 20 years ago and now has 45 restaurants nationwide, with five new ones opening in 2022. The Cambridge branch opened in 2020. Throughout January, Giggling Squid is celebrating Veganuary, with particular emphasis on its new vegan dishes, which are available all year round. For more information, visit gigglingsquid.com.
