Something terrible has happened this last month. Our favourite Thai restaurant has temporarily closed down! OK, so the staff have simply just gone back to Thailand for their holidays and the restaurant will be open up again soon. I guess I should be grateful that it isn’t another story of a restaurant closing down because the food is either too spicy for the sensitive German palate or too expensive for the rather frugal average German. I have mentioned a few times how difficult it is for exciting and delicious restaurants to open in Berlin. Bar Gracia (run by German actor Daniel Brühl) had to close down because people complained the dishes were too expensive. I mean yeah, it is tapas so one dish isn’t going to fill you up. But this is also not just your generic dates wrapped in bacon, some oven baked breaded calamari or bland aioli and bread. Bar Gracia served up delicious small plates of fresh fish and meats, cheese and wonderfully cooked vegetables. No, it wasn’t yet another average Pizza/ Pasta place .. and so every time I visit a good restaurant, like a recent visit to the delicious La Lucha (who also serve small plates) I panic and end up going there every week just in case they do close down!
This was the case when we first came across Taleh Thai. Conveniently located not too far from our apartment we were absolutely shocked the first time we went there … and I have been convinced ever since that it will soon close down. It surely has to be too spicy for the Germans!? I mean there are only so many expats that can keep a restaurant thriving! We had finally found a place that does spicy Thai food, and not your sloppy Green Curry or some greasy duck noodles. They do also serve those dishes but they focus on the salads. Typical Thai salads are a real popular street food and I can see why. Fresh, zingy, spicy and a clean cut taste as they are simply cooked without any curry sauce or coconut milk poured on top. When we heard that this place would be closing down for a couple of months we probably ate there about about 3 times in the space of a week and a half! But what makes me happier is that there is huge demand for this place to open up again. So much so that I have already had to make our reservation for 2 weeks time … ! And that is fine by me, as long as good quality restaurants can remain open in Berlin.
This is a super quick recipe to make. It involves a few ingredients but once you have them all ready it is simply a case of frying them all up. I serve with some plain rice on the side.
- 1 duck breast (finely diced)
- Handful of fresh coriander (finely chopped)
- Handful of Thai Basil (roughly torn)
- 3 red chillies (finely chopped)
- 1 small onion (peeled and finely diced)
- 2 cloves garlic (peeled and crush)
- 1 tbsp size of fresh ginger (peeled and grated)
- 2 tbps light soy sauce
- 1 tsp dark soy sauce
- 2 tbps fish sauce
- 2 spring onion (finely sliced)
- Juice of 1 lime
- ½ tsp dried chilli flakes
- Black pepper
- Sunflower oil
- In a large frying pan/ wok heat a dash of sunflower oil. Add the onions and garlic and cook until soft and golden. This will only take around 2 mins.
- Then add the ginger and duck. Cook on a high heat for around 3-4 mins. Constantly stirring the duck so all the sides cook evenly.
- Add the soy sauce, fish sauce, chillies, chilli flakes, spring onions and a pinch of black pepper. Pour in the lime juice and mix well. Keep on a high heat so the juices start to boil down and the duck is coated with all the sauce. This will just need 2 mins.
- Take the pan off the heat and stir in the Thai basil and coriander. Season with more black pepper and serve right away.
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