Giggling Squid, Jericho, kindly invited Bitten to try out their new menu recently and here’s how it went.

First impressions, the decor is so lovely, super colourful and bright, with very friendly and warm staff to match. The restaurant is actually much bigger than it looks from the outside and would be good for a big group booking or celebration.

To start, we split the Chang-Mai sharing platter which included Hawker-style Moo Ping, salt & pepper squid, spring rolls, and giggling Wings. The platter came with three tangy dips which complemented the food perfectly. This was a great way to start our meal, trying a variety of great textures and flavours all together, while not being too filling before the main arrived. The squid could’ve been a little more cripsy though perhaps.

For mains, I went for the prawn Paneang, and Charlie got the beef Massaman, with some rice to go alongside the curries. The prawns in my curry had the perfect amount of bounce and the lime leaves in the sauce gave the overall flavour the perfect punch and balance. The Massaman was tasty and the beef tender, although had been over-seasoned slightly.

We were verging on full at this point so decided to share the ‘Sweet Heavens Above’ trio of mini desserts. This consisted of a salted caramel soufflé, a mini melting chocolate dessert and a pineapple & coconut finger. The chocolate mini melting dessert was perfect – a mouthful of warm, gooey, chocolatey goodness that wasn’t too sweet or sickly. The other two mini desserts were let down slightly by the fact they seemed a little frozen, so not a lot of the flavour came through.

Overall, I’d say Giggling Squid is a good place to go for a laid-back meal with friends, or maybe a date (there were definitely a few people on a date when we went!). We had a few of the fruity cocktails too which were decorated with edible flowers, so lots of insta-friendly opportunities there too if you’re into that. We also saw a lot of delivery drivers picking up meals, so could be a good one for a take-away option if you’re feeling lazy/wanting a night in with Netflix.

Giggling Squid
55 Walton St, Oxford OX2 6AE
gigglingsquid.com