Charm Thai, George Street, Bath

Blackpool has just turned its legendary lights on for the 2025 season. But as dusk starts to set on a warm, damp September evening in Bath, George Street’s own glow-up comes into its own.

Turn left from the top of Milsom Street and both Robun and The George, on the other side of the road, immediately grab your attention in a “hey, come over here, we’re gorgeous!” fashion. Further down, The Bootlegger and Clayton’s Kitchen combine to create yet more inviting, fairy lit fusion, and even The Slug and Lettuce looks radiant (albeit in that superpub/high street chain way).

On my side of the street, the waft of warm garlic emanating from Comptoir+Cuisine is as inviting as the shimmer beyond the picture windows, and even the little shops along the way are beautifully-lit for passer-by browsing purpose (those gloves in the window of Grace & Mabel definitely have my future-fingerprints all over them). 

But I refuse to be distracted! I know exactly where I’m going – and I know there’s a subtle light show waiting for me when I go off-kerb, too.

If bling’s your thing, prepare to be (subtly) dazzled at Charm Thai, where gold leaf, gold braid and gold just-about-everything reflects in the mirrors, polished floors and gold (of course) mosaic table partitions. But while the backdrop may be vibrant and the cocktails being dispatched from bar to table proudly polychromatic, the vibe is tranquil, the pace relaxed.

CT has been on George Street since, like, forever (well, circa 2010 at least, when it used to be called Panasia). A Bath Good Food Award (remember those?) dating back to 2013 still hangs in the window; the woman at the next table tells her waiter, on paying the bill, that her mum and dad used to go on date nights there when she was a kid. 

But still, the restaurant looks young for its age. I’m guessing it hasn’t had many nips and tucks down the years, but it still feels fresh, sharp, au courant.

Okay, so the table menu isn’t ‘hip’; it’s laminated and crammed with photos of various dishes rather than po-faced plain typeface descriptors that assume you know your Kuey Teow from your Khao Pad – and, at first glance, it’s a hu-u-u-u-uge array that may initially overwhelm. But read between the lines and it’s a simple formula, really: a classic Thai selection available in fish/meat/veggie/vegan/spicy/not spicy/a bit spicy format.

Regular readers of my rambles know that I love Thai food – Panang in particular; in fact, I’ve been ‘working’ on my list of Top Ten Panangs in Bath since before even Panasia opened its doors. So, although I pretend to flirt with other possibilities, we all know where I’m headed when I’m on Thai territory. Similarly, I can’t move past the prospect of Prawn Tempura nor Deep Fried Squid (seasoned with tagarashi pepper at CT) for an opening gamble in an Asian restaurant, so I didn’t… and I wasn’t disappointed by either here, with the impromptu addition of Salt and Chilli Spare Ribs adding bonus satisfying intrigue.

Mr “I-have-to-try-something-new-wherever-I-go” opted for Pla Neung See Eiw for his main event: a fat, super-fresh, steamed sea bass fillet in a ginger/soy sauce strewn with multi-coloured ribbons of vegetables that all tasted like I imagine supper in a Ko Samui beachfront diner might taste like. And over in Panang corner? Goal! Sweet, plump prawns in that rich, creamy, thick, fragrant, totally Thai gravy muddle-up that is, to me, the world’s ultimate comfort food. 

Both dishes came with a massive mound of rice as standard in the circa £15-£19 price (I love it when requisite sides such as rice don’t trip you up at bill time), portions were generous without being wasteful and the service was unselfconsciously friendly and cheerfully efficient. I didn’t want to leave. I already look forward to returning.

Back out on the George Street ‘strip’, a gaggle of tourists were appreciating the elegant light show on the opposite side of the road. “It all looks like one of those classy little streets off the Marais,” one of them commented. No it doesn’t, madam: it all looks like Bath at its brilliantly-lit best. And if you’re after Thai food that’s gotta rank highly on the Best Thai Food in Bath charts, Charm Thai lights up the list.