Itsy's Thai Street Food — Restaurant in Preston

I came to Preston because I had wanted to try a tapas restaurant on Friargate but I couldn't locate it. So I ditched my plans and went with my second choice, Itsy's. Luckily this place wasn't so hard to find with the light ribbon making the front stand out.

The interior is rather dark and moody in contrast to how bright it was outside at the time of my visit, but it's pleasant and I like the murals dotted across the walls and the fauna above.

For starters I had Veggie Summer Rolls, which I have to say really surprised me. My body will sure appreciate the intake of more greens and it made for a relaxing salad-like starter with a sweet chilli to remind me that chillis, and spice in general, are almost inseparable from Thai cuisine.

But the real star was the Red Thai Curry. I got it with crispy chicken and jasmine rice, and boy was it a treat. Chicken was moist and delicious, with a rich coconut milk to dampen the intensity of the curry. A dish sure to warm the cockles of one's heart, and has to be one of the best curries I have had in many years. Such a shame I couldn't eat it all, but if you have an appetite, you will not be disappointed, I can assure you of that.

Overall, a very lovely and small place, with about 15 tables. I didn't think to count them, but I have a rough memory. Definitely a place to return to though, and I'll be adding...

If you are vegan / plant based, I would probably avoid this place. Menu states that if you are vegan to speak to the staff about options available - we've done that and despite asking were not clearly shown what is or can be made vegan. In the end we just pointed at random items on the menu and asked if it can be made vegan, however, the waitress did not seem convinced even though she was agreeing (she also suggested we order the chicken summer rolls).

Overall the food was okay flavour wise, there were few hiccups on the service side of it - ordered veggie summer rolls to share and a main each, had to ask about our starter when the mains were brought to the table and only then received it, asked if we could get water and never got any.

It might have been just a one off, there were plenty of other people seated at the time we were there and they seemed happy enough. Personally I will not be coming back - still unsure whether my meal was actually vegan, and I feel like if you serve food your understanding of allergens and dietary requirements / preferences needs to be profecient enough to put people dining at your place at ease. A real shame as we were both looking forward to...

I hate to leave bad reviews, but this is the first time a Thai restaurant has ever disappointed me!! I will happily pay huge amounts for amazing food, but I begrudged paying anything for this food that me and my partner ate so little of. Thai food is my favourite cuisine, and I eat it so regularly including many times in Thailand. This food was the least authentic I’ve ever had. Each dish was incredibly sweet, greasy, and lacked any flavour. The dishes I ordered should have been completely different flavours, yet tasted nearly the same. There was no spice, at all, even in dishes marked as hot. Usually Thai food is incredibly aromatic, busting with flavour and spice. Not here. The food was unremarkable, and just left us feeling fairly sick. Perhaps some of the other dishes are fantastic, but unfortunately this is not somewhere I...