GSCENE 27
A TOUCH OF KO SAMUI IN HOVE
IRON DUKE
THE IRON DUKE, Hotel, Pub & Thai Dining, 3 Waterloo Street, Hove
Tel: 01273 734806
Many pubs and bars now serve
Thai food but don't seem to get
it quite right. The Iron Duke,
however, now offer an extensive
selection of Thai dishes, and on
our visit we found that they’ve
pitched everything perfectly and
were serving great Thai food.
The prices are very competitive,
the choices of traditional dishes
are varied ranging from mild to
very spicy and the quality of the
food generally is top notch and
certainly well worth checking
out.
The Iron Duke is a traditional local bar, nothing pretentious, just off
the seafront in Hove, round the corner from Embassy Court. It’s the bar
the audience for concerts by both 'Actually' choirs patronise and boasts
a mixed clientele ranging from builders to the classical music crowd.
For our starters we tried the Tom Kha Gai sweet and sour soup
(£5.50), cooked with chicken, galangal and coconut milk, not too
spicy but delicious, followed by Khanom Jeep, steamed pork and
prawn dumpling (£5.50) with water chestnut and soy sauce which
were tasty and fat free. In fact, I think they were the nicest dumplings
that have ever passed my lips! We finished our starters with Kung
Sarong, king prawns wrapped in rice paper, (£5.50) with a sweet
chilli dip, which were very acceptable. Most of the starters on the
menu were priced at either £5.20 or £5.50 except the Iron Duke
Platter (£9.95) which serves two people and includes prawn rolls,
tempura vegetables, Kanom Pang Na Moo and Thai fish cakes served
with sweet chilli sauce.
For the main course we shared
two dishes, Bet Ob Nam Peug,
crispy duck in a homemade
organic honey, ginger and
tamarind sauce (£9.95), that
was undoubtedly the finest duck
dish I’ve been served in a bar. It
was stunning and was served with
rice and salad. The second dish was Pla Nueng Manow (£11.95), a
whole steamed wild sea bass with
chilli, coriander, lemon juice and
salad. The presentation of the fish
was a work of art and the flavour
was spot on. Once again as good a
dish as I have tasted in any
restaurant. My only little niggle
was the fish was a little on the
small side.
All dishes at The Iron Duke are prepared without the use of MSG, which
really makes a difference to the taste and I personally find, makes
sleeping later in the evening much easier. Many of the standard dishes
offered come with vegetarian options and are served with boiled rice
or noodles. There are a large range of curries, noodle dishes and
dishes cooked in the WOK at £7.95; too many to mention here, but I
will be returning to sample them very soon.
Lunch is served Mon–Sat from noon–3pm and from 6–10.30pm in the
evening. A take away service is also available.
Service was attentive and polite and all in all this was quite a find. A
quick visit, a lasting memory. James Ledward