Sunderland's Jack Thai restaurant relaunches with dedicated curry and noodle menu

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There’s oodles of noodles on the menu at one of the city’s only dedicated Thai ventures as it celebrates its first year in business with a relaunch.

Jack Sornjitti built up a loyal following for his dishes at his first city restaurant, Thai Bay, which ran for seven years in Sunniside.

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Jack Thai has just celebrated its first year in Albion PlaceJack Thai has just celebrated its first year in Albion Place
Jack Thai has just celebrated its first year in Albion Place | Sunderland Echo

After closing that venture for family reasons, he began looking for a more central city centre spot and opened Jack Thai in Albion Place in summer 2023.

It gave new life to the former Bengal Dreams site, which had stood empty for some time, and is the city centre’s only Thai restaurant.

As Jack Thai mark its first year in the city, Jack has relaunched the menu focusing on traditional Thai noodle and curry dishes instead of the Thai small plates served previously.

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Restaurateur Jack Sornjitti.Restaurateur Jack Sornjitti.
Restaurateur Jack Sornjitti. | Sunderland Echo

The restaurateur says the shift in culinary focus has proved a hit and the 40-seater restaurant just had its busiest week yet, serving 700 covers in five days for the recent Sunderland Restaurant Week.

“When I first came to Sunderland 20 years ago, no one was doing Thai street food and I didn’t think people would want to sit and eat noodles in a restaurant,” said the businessman.

“But people’s palates have changed, people have travelled the world and want to try new things and it’s great that there’s such a variety of foods from around the world available in Sunderland now.”

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The restaurant recently had its busiest week to dateThe restaurant recently had its busiest week to date
The restaurant recently had its busiest week to date | Sunderland Echo

The menu now focuses on curries such as beef brisket massaman curry, red duck curry and chicken jungle curry and noodles such as meat feast noodles, braised pork shank noodles, curry noodle soups and more.

Jack said: “Thai noodle dishes are more complex than those in countries such as Japan and China. They’re more pungent, flavourful and you get more in the bowl.

“I decided over the summer that the time was right to do a more street food-focussed menu. In Thailand you go to one restaurant and they’ll focus on one particular noodle dish, but I’ve covered a bit of everything with our menu.

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Meat feast noodles from the new menu Meat feast noodles from the new menu
Meat feast noodles from the new menu | Sunderland Echo

“So far, we’ve had a great response - people love the flavour. Sunderland Restaurant Week was our busiest week ever.

“It’s a great idea to introduce people to new restaurants and people are always looking for a good deal.

“Our regular menu is still a starter and a main for under £20, which is still good value. I wanted to make sure it’s a good deal every day.”

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It's the city centre's only dedicated Thai restaurantIt's the city centre's only dedicated Thai restaurant
It's the city centre's only dedicated Thai restaurant | Sunderland Echo

Sunderland Restaurant Week ran earlier this month and saw plenty of people downloading the vouchers to enjoy discount dining, estimated to be worth hundreds of thousands of pounds to the local economy.

Among the most-popular restaurants for the most vouchers downloaded was Rumour Has It, The Scullery, The Botanist, I Scream for Pizza and Tarantino’s.

*Jack Thai, Albion Place, is open Tuesday to Friday from 5pm to 9pm, Saturday from 12pm to 9pm and Sunday from 5pm to 9pm. You can book on their Facebook page or Tel: 0191 711 6559.

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