Giggling Squid Leeds: When Dinner Comes With Its Own Sense of Adventure

There are restaurants you walk into and immediately know what you are going to get. Then there are places that make you stop just inside the door because, quite honestly, you weren't expecting quite so much of a spectacle. Giggling Squid on Park Row in Leeds is firmly in the second camp. Tucked into a striking former bank building in the city centre, it is a restaurant that has clearly decided that going out for Thai food should be about considerably more than what arrives on your plate.

And that is probably the first thing that struck me. Before we'd even looked at the menu, the building had already done its job.

The high ceilings, glass domes and masses of greenery give the dining room a wonderfully theatrical quality, but somehow it doesn't feel like a restaurant trying too hard to impress. There are soft lights, floral details, mint-green touches and comfortable seating, with the whole place feeling warm and welcoming rather than overly polished. Giggling Squid describes its restaurants as Thai food “with personality”, and in Leeds, that personality is impossible to miss.