Lanthong Thai Restaurant — Restaurant in Chelmsford

This was our first experience here after a couple of disappointing meals at the 'other Thai nearby'. Booking was simple and friendly, and I was easy to find. I don't understand the rave reviews about authenticity here because apart from the great staff the food was mediocre to say the least. Yes the restaurant was busy but starters seemed to take an eternity, especially when you clock that there are no crackers unless you order them and pay extra, it's always helpful to know these things in advance! So at an empty table you wait. The starters were exactly the same fare as those served in the rival restaurants in Chelmsford and Witham, all be it the addition of BBQ ribs was a novelty (they were extremely fatty and tough). Hoping for a better main course I was sadly disappointed. Add to this the small nature of the dining area devoid of any partitions, the sounds of the room we're defending and uncomfortable. The lemon chicken turned out to be 'any sauce' chicken, the stuff that's battered and then has the appropriate sauce poured on top before serving, and the Beef curry, I'm not sure how you make beef so dry, but I found myself thinking 'this is beef stew but with coconut milk'. There were no hints of Thai spices, no whif of lemongrass, lime leaves or even the wonderful tang of cliantro root. It was a let's pay the bill and go home (at least we can claim the evening back for ourselves). Plus points, it's central, the staff are friendly, it's probably great at lunchtime if your looking for nibbles. But I have to repeat there was nothing authentic about the care or attention to the food I was severd and a battered chicken breast with pre made sauce on the top can be purchase from any number of...

Had a wonderful experience at Lanthong last night. We booked in advance as we were uncertain how busy it would be. We were greeted personally which was really lovely and seated, the restaurant was empty save for a group of 4 however the atmosphere was really lovely, because it was calm, intimate and relaxing. And meant the service was pretty quick! We were told that usually during the week there's no need to book but it's usually a good idea to book for a Friday or Saturday evening. We ordered a couple of starters: Thai Dim Sum and Thai Fish Cakes. Both really delicious. Then we ordered a Chicken Thai Green Curry to share, I had the Honey Roast Duck Breast and my fiance had a Hot Beef Red Curry. We had a Jasmine Rice each. There was plenty of food and it was absolutely heavenly. All the food was presented beautifully. We asked to take home what was left of the curries and ordered desserts. I had banana fritter with ice cream which was incredible and my fiance had a pistachio and saffron ice cream. We will definitely be back, I can't believe we haven't been sooner! Looking forward to...

My partner had a soup and meaty rice, both of which he loved. Though I was a bit disappointed but this was a personal preference thing. I had a vegetarian soup which I enjoyed but my main tofu dish wasn't the best, a very (and I mean very) soft tofu was used which made the dish unappealingly mashy, some may prefer this but I really did not. It was also a shame that there were no vegetables in the dish (something I've come you expect in veggie dishes at other Thai places), this just made it lack something and seem quite uninteresting unfortunately. There were a few really tiny pieces of pepper, but really nothing of note. Having said this I do still feel the general flavours in the dish (ginger and whatever was in the sauce) were nice. The staff seemed great, totally happy with the service...