Even if you haven't yet been lucky enough to visit The Crazy Bear, there's no doubt you'll have at least heard of the Thai restaurants, bars and hotels, which can be found in Beaconsfield, Stadhampton and London. Since opening in 1993, the unique restaurant has become known for its incredible cuisine, inventive cocktails and interesting interiors, and it now counts Victoria Beckham and Peter Andre among its celebrity fans.
So we jumped at the chance to enjoy lunch at The Crazy Bear's London outpost, located in the heart of Fitzrovia. After perusing the extensive cocktails and wine list, we finally settled on our aperitifs - a classic mojito and one of the restaurant's signature cocktails, the Strawberry and Basil Mule - the perfect tipples to whet our appetites while we tried to whittle down our meal choices from the huge selection of mouth-wateringly good dishes on the menu.
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There are a number of tempting dishes on the menu at The Crazy Bear
Inspiration is primarily taken from Thai cuisine (the Beaconsfield and Stadhampton restaurants also serve English cuisine), but the menu is varied and extensive, so whether you're a sucker for sushi or enjoy a good steak, there'll be something to suit all tastes. The only hard part is choosing just one.
After experiencing exactly that problem, we opted for the sharing selection starter, which includes salt and pepper baby squid, chicken satay skewers with peanut sauce, vegetable spring rolls and marinated chicken parcels wrapped in pandanus leaves, to give us a taste of some of the most popular starters. Between that and a portion of edamame we were already feeling full, but persisted to our main dishes knowing that if the starters were anything to go by, we were in for a treat!
The restaurant and bar is known for its amazing cocktails
We definitely weren't disappointed; the Lobster Pad Thai was not only delicious but perfectly presented, with a lobster tail served on top of a bed of noodles, vegetables and beansprouts. Meanwhile the Tiger Prawns and Scallops curry featured a generous serving of shellfish, all marinated in a spicy chilli sauce and served with jasmine rice.
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We're already plotting our next visit to sample some of the sushi and sashimi that is made fresh each day, while the Champagne Wednesdays offer (50 per cent off all bottles of champagne on Wednesdays) is equally tempting. With its fabulous food, friendly service and memorable decor, you'd be crazy not to give it a try!
For more information and to make a reservation, visit crazybeargroup.co.uk