Get it? Thai? The best titles are ones you have to explain... sheesh.
Can I just say first of all, that the diet is going extremely well... no worries about that... the fact that I dined two nights in a row at Bring Your Own Booze Asian restaurants is of no concern... Ooops.
I'm trying to visit new places in the West Yorkshire area and have new experiences. It's hard sometimes when you've lived in a place for years to not get stuck in a rut. Time is so precious that it's tempting to stick with something you like because it's safe and you know you will enjoy it.
But that's not what life is for is it? The safe, the familiar? No no no no no no
So I felt like a traitor when I suggested trying a new place instead of our faithful Thai restaurant, Jino's in Headingley, where I've enjoyed many a good meal over the years.
A few friends had been raving about a place in the city centre that was BYOB. Now I am ALL ABOUT a BYOB place. Booze can be so expensive (for good reason I suppose) and can really drive the cost of a meal right up. I REALLY begrudge paying £5 for a glass of wine when I know I can get a decent bottle of Shiraz for the same price.
I don't have a drinking problem by the way...
So I arranged to meet a friend I've not seen in aaaaages and we met in The Pit for a catch up drink before heading to Thai Aroy Dee Leeds to check the place out. We had prawn crackers and sweet chilli sauce to start, then a mixed starter of prawns and mushrooms to really start, then I chose a pork Pad Thai for my main, all washed down with Sainsbury's finest red wine for under a fiver. Classic.
Dinner for two cost just £23, my bus fare home was almost as much as my main course...
When I arranged to go to Thai Aroy Dee on the Thursday, I completely forgot that I'd also arranged to go out for a Vietnamese meal the very next night. Gulp.
So we headed to Viet Thai in Stanningley, a teeny weeny restaurant that only seats 20 people, so it's pretty cosy with the waitress squeezing past to get to the kitchen. The toilet was outside of the building and round the back, interesting and very freezing but not off-putting at all.
I had a Vietnamese beef curry for my main and it was soooooooooooooo good! I ate every single bit of it which is not normal for me, I'm a talker so I usually eat half and take the cold half home for the next day's lunch.
Two amazing meals in two nights, both at BYO restaurants. I'd highly recommend them both for low cost, high taste options!
