IT'S RARE enough for any restaurant to get a visit from a critic – and I can only imagine the panic that would have spread through the kitchen at Sukhothai a couple of Saturday nights ago if they'd known that there were actually two on the premises.
Because as we were being shown to our table I was accosted by the respected Yorkshire Post food critic Bob Cockroft who was dining out with another senior YP journalist and their respective wives.
To be honest he's the last person I want to see when I'm eating out. If he's writing about Sukhothai in his Saturday morning column, I can hardly then write about the same place on Saturday evening.
So it could have easily got ugly: "Look Cockroft, this is my patch. Why don't you shove off to Sheffield or Shipley or something."
"Shan't. Anyway we got here first."
"Yeah, but we booked our table weeks ago."
"Oh yeah? Well my column's better than your's."
And it could have all developed into the sort of food fight for which sticky Thai noodles and prawn dumplings were perfectly designed.
But thankfully there was no need for fisticuffs, seeing as how the YP posse were here for pleasure, not business, having given the place a glowing review last year. "Simply yum," Mr Cockroft had called it. He's a genius with words.
But in a way, the fact he chooses to eat here on his night off, and when the accounts department aren't footing the bill, is a greater endorsement than any number of his column inches.
And for me it was very much a working visit, though I did allow myself to enjoy it too. Because a visit to Sukhothai is always a pleasure – as the many Chapel Allerton locals who have made this their restaurant of choice will certainly attest. It offers genuine, spicily delicious Thai food along with a great atmosphere and some really attentive service – and it is testament to its lasting popularity than ever since it expanded its floor area to take in the shop next door, Sukhothai always seems to be full. Booking is very much recommended.
The restaurant is beautifully stylish, with its wooden floors, and dark wooden furniture; the plain creams of the walls contrasting with the ornate Oriental artwork and extravagant wall-carvings on display. The staff, polite and attentive, flit effortlessly around the busy restaurant in their immaculate gold and white uniforms.
After a while pondering over the menu, I was seduced by the promise of fried banana – always an Oriental treat – to start with the Glauy Ta-Le Deep. This was a lovely combination, three hunks of soft banana with finely chopped prawn and crab, lightly battered and fried to a medium crisp.
Across the table, my partner had gone for the Mee Krob – a huge pile of sweet crispy noodles with prawn, bean sprout and spring onion, which she described as "delicious but rather messy". The very crispy noodles went everywhere and for much of the rest of the evening she was picking brittle shards out of her jumper.
We'd been joined by my sister, seeing as it was her birthday and she's a lover of all things Thai. She took quite a fancy to one of the waiters, as it goes.
She had opted for the Tod Mun Pla, four small but deliciously meaty cakes of minced fish, blended with curry spices, chilli and green beans, attractively served with a salad of tomato and cucumber along with a devilish peanut sauce.
Other starters include the Gung Chup Pang Tod, battered Tiger prawns with sweet chilli sauce; the Khanom Jeeb, wonton-wrapped dumplings of pork and prawn; and the Sai Oua, Thai pork sausage with red curry and lime leaves. The main courses soon arrived, as did a second bottle of a Merlot rich in black fruits and vanilla, as the two female members of our party had soon downed the first.
My partner had gone for the Gai Gang Kiew Wan – chunks of chicken bathing in a really coconutty Thai green curry with carrots, courgettes and beansprouts. She had been offered mild, regular or spicy and had gone for the middle option, though it seemed, to us at least, that chef had erred on the mild side of regular.
I had the Pad Nam Mun Ho, plenty of squid pieces in a thinnish sauce – again only mildly spicy – with red peppers, mushrooms, carrots and thin green beans.
The birthday girl had picked the Pad Gratium Prik Tai. This one, beef marinated in mouthwatering spices and fried with garlic and pepper, seemed like the most powerful of the three dishes. A bowl of rice and one of noodles were ample accompaniment for the three of us.
Other main courses include the Tab Gata Lon, a sizzling platter of chicken and duck liver, fried in an oyster sauce with garlic, black pepper, chilli and lime-leaves; the Pla Yang, a whole grilled Sea Bass, rubbed with fresh chilli, lime-leaves and wrapped in a banana leaf; and the Phed Pad Broccoli, stir-fried duck with broccoli and carrot.
Like most Thai menus, you'll find plenty here to amuse. Like the Gah Doo Moo, which sounds like it ought to be a French cattle-truck rail halt, but is in fact pork spare ribs in oyster sauce. And with its tungs, thongs, gangs, gai hos and priks, there's no shortage of third form humour available.
Desserts followed. My partner had gone for the rambutans, but only because we had no idea what rambutans were, and having seen a sizeable quantity of Merlot, she was feeling all adventurous. We were still none the wiser after they arrived as they seemed exactly like lychees – which is odd, seeing as lychees are a separate item on the menu.
And while I more cautiously opted for a sorbet, my sister decided to celebrate her birthday with something that was called a steamed banana roll, but which was long, fat and pink and looked like something you might buy at an Ann Summers party, batteries extra.
The bill soon came. I got the slight impression they needed the table for someone else – and this was perhaps the one point of the evening where we felt the staff would have preferred it if we were somewhere else. The bill came to something around the £90 mark, which included two bottles of wine and coffees.
Later in the evening, during the gentle ritual of undressing, my partner found a crispy noodle in her socks.

Factfile
• Opening hours: 5-11pm Tues-Sat; 6-11pm Sun; closed Monday
• Children: Welcomed.
• Disabled Access: Slightly awkward, but restaurant is all on one floor
• Parking: On-street areas nearby
• Credit Cards: Welcomed
• Tel: 0113-2370141
• Website: www.thaifood4u.co.uk

Star ratings
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HHHHH EXCELLENT HHHH VERY GOOD HHH GOOD HH AVERAGE H POOR