Big Days Out: My Birthday Dinner
By Neave Allen |
27/09/2023
Do you love Thai food? Or are you just looking for somewhere new that serves delicious food?
Well, have I got the place for you. A few days ago, it was my birthday, and as so a little birthday
treat my boyfriend and I went to a restaurant called the Giggling Squid, located in the St David’s centre in Cardiff.
I have walked past it a few times and it always looks packed, so I had high hopes that they would have some amazing food!
Environment and customer service
The restaurant itself has a very elegant and botanical sort of vibe. We booked to go pretty early as the restaurant was booked out
from 5:30pm to 8:00pm, so I would definitely recommend booking a few days in advance in you’re interested in going there.
Because we arrived early, the restaurant had a very nice quiet calm vibe to it, and we were able to have a conversation without
there being a lot of noise around us. They sat us down quickly and we didn’t have to wait for our table to be ready for us despite the
fact we did arrive a few minutes before our booking.
We had multiple different wait staff whilst we were there, however all of them were very friendly, polite and the customer service was great.
One thing I did really like is that when we ordered our food the waitress asked us if we would like our staters brought out with our main food,
or for the starters to be brought out first. Having this option would be great if you were out with a group of friends and you just wanted to order
starters while your friends wanted to order a main course (or visa versa), as all the food could then be brought out together. This is also something
I haven’t seen many restaurants (if any for that matter) ask, as usually you would have to ask this yourself, so I thought it was really nice that
they ask you this.
Interior
Beverages
For drinks I ordered a ‘strawberry cooler’ and my boyfriend ordered a single Kentucky Bourbon whisky. The drinks arrived extremely quickly,
almost immediately after we had placed our order. The strawberry cooler was from the virgin cocktails section of the drink’s menu,
and had strawberry, a mint leaf, a slice of lime, and lemonade. It was very refreshing however, it did have a very strong sweet taste,
almost like a strawberry candy. Personally, I really like sweet things, so I enjoyed it, however this is something to bear in mind.
The whisky came from the spirits section of the drink’s menu. You could either get a single or a double, and you could either get it
with a mixer (they had a variety to choose from such as Coke, lemonade, or soda) or just straight. My boyfriend got a straight single.
Although it burnt the back of your throat (but then all whiskey’s do that) it had a slight nutty taste to me, and a slight coffee taste
to my boyfriend, with an aftertaste of raisin. Overall, we both thoroughly enjoyed our drinks.
Rebel Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, Strawberry Cooler
Starters
For starters we ordered the ‘Salt and Pepper squid’, and the ‘Samui Zingy prawns’. Again, they arrived pretty quickly, roughly about a 10 - 15 minute
wait after we ordered. The squid was the dish I was most looking forward to, as I had seen a picture of it on their website and it looked amazing.
It certainly did not disappoint. The batter was super crispy and had a very slight salt and pepper taste. Not only was the batter amazing, but there
was a lot of actual meat meaning the squid wasn’t overpowered by the batter, and the pieces were very thick in comparison to other restaurants where
I’ve had crispy squid before. Honestly, I would say this dish was the star of the show, and I would highly recommend. The prawns were really well seasoned
and had a slight spicy kick to them. Again, while they had a lot of seasoning it wasn’t overpowering and you could still taste the prawn which I liked.
The prawns themselves were really high quality, and they weren’t watery or rubbery at all. Personally, out of the two dishes I enjoyed the squid more,
however the prawns were still very good as well.
Samui Zingy Prawns
Salt & Pepper Squid
Main courses
For mains I got the sticky chicken with egg fried rice as a side, and my boyfriend got the Duck Confit with coconut rice as the side.
The food arrived about 10 minutes after our starters. In general, I would say the service was pretty fast and the wait times didn’t feel very long.
Again, I was really excited for the sticky chicken, as it was listed as one of the favourite dishes of the restaurant.
The chicken wasn’t as crispy as I was expecting, however this wasn’t a negative thing as it did still have a sight crunch and it was also delicious.
It was coated in a sweet sticky sauce (hence the name) which was really good, and the chicken was cooked well and had a really nice texture.
Unfortunately, the rice was a bit disappointing. There wasn’t much egg, and the egg that was in it was in pretty big lumps.
I also found it to be quite bland and dry. My boyfriend did end up asking for some soy sauce for me which definitely helped,
but I personally wouldn’t recommend it. I don’t like duck myself, however my boyfriend said that it was also really good.
I could tell just from watching him cut it that it was very soft, as it came off the bone with no effort.
Like most duck dishes, it had a very sweet taste. The sauce was the main part of the dish which had a slightly tangy and sweet taste to it,
enhancing the sweetness of the duck. The coconut rice again was slightly disappointing. It only had a very small hint of coconut,
and my boyfriend said he would have preferred it to have a slightly stronger taste. Unfortunately, it was also very dry. Other than the rice,
the dishes were both really good, and we enjoyed our respective meals.
Sticky Chicken
Egg Fried Rice
Duck Confit
Coconut Rice
In total we paid £76.45 for our meal. There was a service fee which was included in the overall price which was slightly less than 10%.
While it is quite expensive, I would definitely say it was worth it. As I said the customer service was really good, all of the staff were
very friendly, and everything arrived very quickly. The food itself was delicious, everything arrived piping hot so you could tell it was fresh,
and it was all presented really nicely. If you’re interested in finding out more about the restaurant, or you’re curious what other food they sell
check out their website. They also offer both vegetarian and vegan dishes.