Thai tapas chain Giggling Squid has finally opened its doors in Cardiff - marking the restaurant's first-ever location in Wales. Located in a prime spot on the Hayes and spanning three units, the plans for its arrival was hardly a secret - though its opening date was until the end of May. Despite that, its 150-cover dining room is now booked solid for more than two weeks. Proof, I suppose, that Cardiff is hungry for another Thai restaurant.
Much like Ivy Asia just down the road, the Giggling Squid is decorated to impress. The interior is awash with florals of all colours - they adorn the pink and blue wall paper, contrasting against the pea soup coloured leather booths. A hot pink neon sign hangs against the back wall and faux flowers drape the giant metal bird cages that frame the seating in the front of the restaurant. See more photos of the restaurant in our first look.
It's not the sort of place where you'll need to switch on your iPhone torch to read the menu. It is bright, feminine and photogenic enough to make people want to visit, nevermind what the restaurant is serving. But it did make me wonder whether as much effort would go into the food as went into the aesthetic. For the latest restaurant reviews, sign up to our newsletter
The menu, similar to the restaurant decor, is a lot to take in. There's a section for sharing platters, starters, curries, noodles and stir fries, salads, signature dishes, rice and sides. I am wary of kitchens that offer too much - there is no such thing as a restaurant that serves 50 spectacular dishes - but, in the spirit of choice, my friends and I went for a little bit of everything.
To start, we ordered the vegetarian spring rolls (£6.50), golden money bags (£7.50), and salt and pepper squid (£8.50), labelled a house favourite. All three arrived together, arranged artfully on their plates with a side of homemade sweet chili sauce.
The salt and pepper squid was the easy favourite, tender and meaty without being chewy, and served in a fish-and-chip style cone. The spring rolls were crunchy and packed with fresh herbs and vegetables, and the golden money bags were crunchy parcels of chicken and vegetables, laced with fresh ginger. In hindsight, three fried starters might have been a bit heavy, but each was worth trying in its own right.
For our mains, we decided to divide and conquer. For the vegetarian, we tried the Vegetable Giggling Pad Thai (£12.50). The heaping portion came wrapped in a beautiful egg lattice, with peanuts and a lime to top. It had a variety of crunchy vegetables, and a nice flavour, but it did seem rather unexciting compared some of the dishes we watched servers carry past.
We also ordered Sticky Chicken (£14.50) with a side of jasmine rice (£3.50). The simplest of all our dishes, it had no surprises - but was nice, sweet and a lighter option than most, coming in at around 700 calories for the chicken on its own.
The shining star, however, was the Royal Fishing Boat Curry, a Thai red curry full of fresh mussels, prawns, squid and an entire salmon steak (£17.95). Not one for the peckish diner, the bowl was full to the brim. The menu promised an aromatic blend of Thai spices in a rich coconut sauce and it didn't disappoint. The sauce was sweet and had a good depth to it but avoided being too rich or overpowering for a hot summer's day. The only disppointment was that it lacked heat, but the flavour made up for that.
Too full for dessert, we called it quits there. But overall, we enjoyed our dishes and our evening. There was something for the veggie, and the meat eater, the one who likes heat, and the one who doesn't. There's even something for the one who doesn't really fancy the idea of Thai food but tags along anyway.
I wouldn't call the Giggling Squid authentic, but I'm not sure that was the point either. The chain is approaching its 50th restaurant in the UK, and just as you wouldn't go to Pizza Hut for a taste of Sicily, you wouldn't come here for authentic Thai. But if you can come to terms with that, you'll definitely find something you'll enjoy and get a photo worthy of your Insta feed - and that's probably good enough for most.
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