I hope you’re hungry – a new Thai restaurant has opened in York.
And it looks great!
YorkMix took a look inside today (Tuesday) to find out more.
Rosa’s Thai will officially open tomorrow (Wednesday 1 June) at 1-3 Coney Street.
The chain started as a market stall on London’s Brick Lane in 2007 and was founded by Thai chef Saiphin Moore.
A year later, Saiphin and her entrepreneur husband Alex opened the first Rosa’s Thai restaurant in Spitalfields, just around the corner from the market stall. And the rest is history!
The York location will be the 29th Rosa’s Thai, with other restaurants in places like Leeds, Manchester, Birmingham, Cardiff and Liverpool.
“We’d been looking for a site in York for a while and we were just waiting for the right place to come up,” said communications manager Georgina MacDougall.
“When we saw this listed, historic building we just knew it was right for Rosas’s.”
The 80-cover restaurant is housed in an early 18th Century building next to York’s historic Mansion House. The building used to house restaurant Joe’s Kitchen.
It has kept a lot of the original features such as the timber framing and exposed brick but modern touches have been implemented to create a comforting and contemporary feel.
The restaurant also has an enclosed courtyard that overlooks the Guildhall.
“There’s a real focus on bringing that Thai warmth and kindness to the restaurant,” said Georgina.
Around £650,000 was invested into the York location for the cost of setup and to kit it out.
It will be headed up by long-standing Rosa’s team members – and husband and wife duo – general manager Mumu and head chef Moi – who have been an integral part of the Rosa’s Thai family since 2019.
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Menu highlights include stir fried aubergine (£9.50), pad Thai (from £10), and drunken noodles (from £10.75) – a spicy dish that doesn’t contain any alcohol but is typically served as a hangover cure after a night out.
“The spring rolls, green curries, red curries, pad Thais are all the same dishes that would have been served at the Rosa’s market stall in 2007,” said Georgina. “None of that has changed, everything is still homemade.”
There is also a collection of exciting Thai-inspired cocktails such as the pineapple kaffir lime sour (£8.75) and the boozy lemongrass and pandan iced tea (£7.25).
The restaurant had a soft opening on 30 and 31 May which was a big success.
“We’d sold out the soft launch in record time – it was the fastest we’ve ever sold out a soft launch for Rosa’s Thai which was amazing.
“I think that’s a testament to how excited everyone is.”
“We really want this to become part of the local community,” Georgina continued. “We want everyone who lives in York to feel as though Rosa’s is going to become part of their eating out diary.”
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Like many businesses, Rosa’s Thai has been affected by the pandemic and the cost of living crisis – with the opening of the York location being slightly delayed due to supply and manpower issues.
“We’ve really tried to look after our people through the whole process and help them along the way,” said operations manager Simon Sanderson.
Rosa’s Thai will be open seven days a week, from 12-10:30pm Sunday to Thursdays and 12-11pm on Friday and Saturdays.
For more information about Rosa’s Thai and to make a booking, please visit their website here.
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