Giggling Squid is all about food with personality, cooked with expertise and shared with generosity.
The Giggling Squid story started when co-founder Pranee worked as a waitress at a family run Thai restaurant whilst studying in Brighton. She loved the fast pace, getting to know customers by name, the multi-tasking, quick problem solving and the skill of turning tables. But she missed the true Thai mealtime experience and this sparked a hunger to have her own restaurant in her own style.
Fast forward a few years to when Pranee and husband Andy were sitting in the basement of a tiny, tiny fisherman’s cottage (now our Brighton restaurant), pulling together Giggling Squid’s first Thai Tapas menu. Taking inspiration from Thai traditions and legends, as well as Pranee’s own food memories, the idea was to cook proper Thai food and devise a menu which recreated the family mealtime experience in Thailand involving lots of dishes and lots of sharing.
They had no money, no idea what they were doing (their words not ours!), a leaky roof, dodgy wiring and a pile of washing up to the ceiling but luckily the menu was a massive hit. Things have moved on a bit now, but you can still eat the same super popular Thai Tapas Sets for lunch.
They learnt from mistakes along the way, but most importantly never compromised on the quality of food and always found a way to make service personal and full of heart. Those values are still the cornerstone of our restaurants today.