Orangegrass has been a stalwart restaurant in South Shields for years, serving up tasty Thai food to generations of families who love authentic, spicy and tasty food.
During the pandemic, they were one of the takeaways that stayed open and delivered food around the region, controlling our cravings for anything that we simply hadn’t or couldn’t cook ourselves.
Thankfully, now they are allowed to function as a restaurant again, the regulars, and a lot of new customers too have returned and you can see why. If the pandemic taught us anything, it’s let’s give things a go in the kitchen, but let’s also leave it to the experts in certain circumstances, and I personally think Thai food is one of those instances. Their fragrant food deliveries kept me and hubby going, by ordering at least two per month, as we craved our favourite Thai delicacies. We decided to go on Saturday, it was an impromptu decision, so we only just got in, as this place is very popular and it is very advisable to book.
The restaurant is so typically Thai, beautiful bright colours, tastefully decorated, and staff incredibly welcoming.
We ordered some Thai prawn crackers as soon as we were seated, which came with a tasty tamarind dip. These never disappoint me, as they are not as greasy as Chinese ones, so always enjoy them more. Hubby had a Thai lager and we shared a bottle of Viognier white wine. It’s rare to see this wine on the menu in most establishments, so we were both pleasantly surprised.
Rich fancied the soup – Tom Kha Gai, which has delicious, melt-in-the-mouth chicken, mushrooms, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves and lime juice. The tangy, sour and then smooth coconut milk make this a real winner and we swapped dishes as I liked it so much. I ordered Neua Ping Cheung Mai, which is grilled, marinated beef with coriander shoots and garlic. Meat was seasoned really well and was very tender.
For main course I had to have the sizzling king prawns in oyster sauce, served with asparagus. I love the drama of a sizzling dish, so this was already entertaining me when it was brought to the table. Asparagus was still crunchy and the prawns fell out of their shells, they were cooked that well. Hubby went for a chef’s special – Special Gai Yang, which was crispy chicken breast with a tangy kaffir lime sauce, chilli, coriander, lime leaf, lemongrass and Thai mixed herbs. This was exceptionally tasty and we also shared a portion of coconut rice. We’re very much a sharing couple, so it was nice to have, in effect, four different dishes, at one meal. The portion sizes at Orangegrass are perfect, not over-facing, but you still go away satisfied. Out of all of the Thai restaurants we go to, and there are a lot, as it’s our favourite cuisine, Orangegrass, to us, is the best value for money. It honestly never disappoints, which is why people travel a long way to visit on a weekly basis.
Next time you get a craving for Thai food, you may want to consider this little gem, as it really is a pure taste of Thailand.