Isaan Thai Cuisine

Isaan Thai Cuisine sits on Carrer de la Pursiana, a narrow side street in Santa Catalina, a few steps from the market hall on Plaça de la Navegació. From outside the place is understated; inside, an open kitchen works towards the dining room, and if you sit close enough you watch the wok directly. The name is a place. Isaan is the northeast of Thailand, the wide region on the Mekong that hardly any traveller heads for: rice fields, a tropical climate and a kitchen reckoned the most robust in the country. The house refers explicitly to that region on its own site. Behind the restaurant is Pedro Truyols. The cooking is done by a Thai team of a head chef and two cooks working to traditional recipes; the menu runs to more than fifty dishes. Isaan Thai Cuisine: the northeast in the name and on the menu Whether a house really cooks the region it is named after is settled in the salads — and here the answer is clear. Som Tam is on the menu, the green papaya salad with carrot, peanuts, cherry tomato, garlic and Thai dressing. Beside it Labb Kai, minced chicken with mint, Thai spices and toasted rice: that toasted, coarsely ground sticky rice is the move by which the cooking of the northeast is recognised. And Khao Niao, sticky rice, can be ordered as a side — up there it comes to the table instead of jasmine rice. Then Yam Nua Yang with seared beef, mint and lime juice. The rest of the menu travels further than the name suggests. Among the soups are Tom Yam and Tom Kha, both with mushrooms, lemongrass, galangal and coriander. Among the noodles, Pad Thai, Pad See Iew and Wun Sen Pad Kai with glass noodles. And four curries side by side: Kang Dang red, Kang Kiew Wan green, Panang with peas and lime leaf, Kang Kalee yellow with potato and carrot, plus Massaman with beef and cashews. This is the cooking of the whole country, not of one province. Curries, duck and three levels of heat Duck gets a section of its own, and it is unusually deep. Ped Makham comes crisp with pak choi and tamarind sauce. Ped Krob rests on vegetables fried in black soy and scattered with toasted sesame. Ped Rad Prik is served with tomato, pineapple and sweet chilli sauce, Kapraw Ped fried with vegetables, basil and hot sauce. And Ped Kang Ped sets the duck in a red curry with pineapple, grapes, chilli tomato and lychee. Among the fish, the sea bass is fried whole and served either with pineapple and sweet chilli sauce or with celery, ginger and soy. Among the rice dishes, Khao Pad Sapparod is worth it, fried with vegetables, fresh pineapple and a touch of yellow curry. You choose the heat yourself: the house works with three levels, and the menu also marks what is vegetarian and what is gluten free. From two people upwards there is a tasting menu that runs from the Entrantes Isaan through Yam Nua and Pad Thai to the Ped Makham. Tofu and seitan right across the menu With guests who eat no meat the house is more thorough than most. Almost every main course — curries, noodles, fried rice, soups — can be ordered with vegetables, tofu or seitan instead of chicken or prawns, and seitan appears in practically every section. There is also a section of its own with Kapraw and Pad Pak, and among the starters tofu satay with peanut sauce and Poh Pia Pak, spring rolls with vegetables only. On its own site the house points out expressly that vegetarians will find plenty here. Dessert, wine and Thai beer The dessert card runs longer than you expect in a Thai house: Khao Niao Mamuang, rice cooked in coconut milk with fresh mango, a homemade coconut flan of egg, coconut milk and sugar, a lemon tart, a millefeuille of brownie and chocolate sheets — and the Flor de Yuzu Mandarina, a biscuit base with yuzu mousse, mandarin filling and coconut ice cream. The wine list takes the island seriously. Alongside Rioja, Ribera del Duero, Rueda and Bierzo stand Mallorcan bodegas: Esnegre and Obac with Mantonegro and Callet, among the whites Vinya Son Caules and Nounat with Prensal, among the rosés an organic Manto Negro. If you want to stay Thai, order Singha or Chang or the house iced tea with lemon; the cocktail card carries a mix named after the house itself, available without alcohol as well.