Jin Da Thai

Jin Da Thai (“precious stone”) has been serving northern Thai cuisine in Hammersmith since 2017. It has quite a small dining room with closely packed tables. The menu has a norther Thai section as well as a more familiar set of Thai dishes from elsewhere in the country. Tom yum goong is the classic spicy prawn soup, and was well made here, with a spicy kick of chilli, sliced mushrooms and prawns that were not overcooked. I have had stocks for this soup with a more complex blend of spices, but this was very pleasant (13/20).

Stir-fried prawns with cashew nuts and assorted vegetables were harmless enough, the prawns cooked all right though the dish seemed a little one-dimensional in spicing terms (12/20). Morning Glory, by contrast, had plenty of chilli kick, though the stalks were not as tender as some other versions of this dish that I have eaten (13/20). Tamarind duck was a dish that I have tried before and enjoyed, the duck was not cooked for too long and there was a pleasant hint of bitter sweetness from the tamarind (14/20). Pad Thai noodles seemed a little overcooked to me today, though the crunch of the beansprouts helped; again a little more spice kick would have been nice (11/20).

Service was better organised than last time, though our waitress was functional rather than friendly. The bill came to £49 a head with beer to drink. Jin Da Thai serves pleasant Thai food in a basic neighbourhood setting and is certainly better than many other West London Thai restaurants.

Further reviews: 11th Aug 2022 | 15th Mar 2022