Mr Foodie Review of Rosa’s Thai, Glasgow city centre
Rosa’s Thai opened in Glasgow on West Nile Street where Côte used to be a couple of months ago. If you live in Edinburgh, Rosa’s also opened a new restaurant at 43 Frederick Street on 13th November – read all the details here.
Menu
Although these are their first restaurants in Scotland, Rosa’s have actually been around for 15 years in London, so they had extended their summer specials for the opening weeks of the Glasgow restaurant.
The menu probably has what you expect, with spring rolls, pad Thai, red and green curries etc. There are also vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options with a ‘Little Rosa’s’ menu for children. There are also no knives on the table as we understand is customary in Thailand so if you need one, simply ask.
A couple of beers are brewed by Mad Cat Brewery for Rosa‘s Thai. These are: Rosa’s house Thai-PA and ‘Mai Mao’ 0.5%ABV beer. The Thai-PA is a pale ale with lemongrass and lime but I couldn’t detect these flavours, though I had just recovered from COVID where I lost my sense of smell and taste for the first time, so the beer was possibly full of flavour that I couldn’t actually experience!
My drinking buddy had a Pineapple Kaffir Lime Sour cocktail, made with Pampero rum, pineapple, coconut water, kaffir lime and star anise, which was flavoursome and notably boozy so pretty good for £8.75.
Also available are boozy iced tea and bubble teas. I didn’t think these were part of Thai culture but having never visited the country I will defer to Rosa’s better judgment.
Starters
Thai calamari AKA ‘pla muek tod’ first up, deep fried squid in tempura batter with lots of chopped chilli and a sweet chilli sauce. The squid was great. Nicely cooked, not rubbery, and with plenty of heat from the sliced red and green chilli.
Chicken satay AKA ‘gai satay’
These skewers, spiced with lemongrass flavour and with a peanut dipping sauce. Pretty much as you’d expect, snacky chicken skewers that were devoured quickly.
Main courses
I had the drunken noodles with pork belly AKA ‘Guaytiew Pad Kee Mao’. Marked as three chillies but surprisingly not as hot as I expected (but maybe that’s the COVID affect again). It didn’t look the most photogenic but had plenty of taste and a noticeable warmth but not quite three chillies worth! Note, that although the name might imply that they’re cooked with booze, this isn’t the case.
The Crab fried rice AKA ‘Khao Pad Pu’ was also ordered but we found it a bit bland and dry as there’s no sauce with it which perhaps makes it authentic but it could’ve done with something to moisten it and add some extra flavours.
Desserts
Thai churros AKA ‘Pa Tong Go’ – not quite sure how authentic this one is 😉 but these were sweet and doughy with a crisp exterior. They were served with a condensed milk dip, so not far removed from the dulce de leche you might receive in Spain.
Mango & sticky rice AKA ‘Khow neaw ma muang’ – slices of sweet, ripe mango with creamy condensed milk, sticky rice, and a smattering of sesame seeds. Simple but delicious.
Overall verdict
Rosa‘s Thai is a cute modern restaurant, thankfully filling the space vacated by Côte earlier this year. Dishes arrived quickly and service was prompt and friendly. The food was really good but I didn’t find it all that spicy when compared with Thai food I’ve had in the past, though that may be as a consequence of a recent COVID recovery. I’m sure that if you wanted it to be really spicy then this wouldn’t be an issue for the kitchen. The cocktail we tried was great, and it’s always good to see bespoke beer on the menu. The desserts selection is probably the poorest aspect of the menu but you can’t go wrong with mango and sticky rice.
I love Thai food so plan to return to try a few different dishes next time. Note that a 12.5% service charge and £1 for charity (Belu WaterAid) is automatically added to your bill.
Disclaimer: we had an £80 voucher so had to pay just over £20 for our meal.
