'We accidentally bought a pub': Inside 'amazing' Scottish Thai restaurant The Croft Inn

Driven by Mr Brown’s mother’s love for her homeland of Elgin, the couple were keen to find a holiday home or B&B. But it was a chance encounter at a local post office that led them to buying The Croft Inn, situated within the Glenlivet Estate in Speyside in 2021.

“We’d been to view another property that ended up not being suitable,” explained Mr Brown. “We stopped at the Post Office and the woman behind the counter told us about the Croft Inn going up for sale.”

The couple detoured to the roadside pub, a stone building with a familiar red Tennents ‘T’ outside. After initial meetings and conversations with the bank and solicitors, they ended up buying it. “We didn’t think we could afford it”, said Mr Brown, “but here we are. We accidentally bought a pub.”

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While Mr Praiudtane has had a love of food and cooking from a young age thanks to his mother and father, and has been a chef for years, Mr Brown had no experience of hospitality. He was a London Underground tube driver for 25 years and “hated it”.

He said: “I was a train driver for 25 years and I never spoke to anyone all day.”

Now he is front of house while Mr Praiudtane is in the kitchen and Khundrada Saivat (Tuk Tik) waits the tables. It’s a cosy, eclectic bar and restaurant, stuffed full of nick nacks, including Mr Brown’s mother’s cross stitch designs, Mr Praiudtane’s figurine collections and drinks memorabilia from the area.

“I served Glen Gordon a drink on this authentic 1970s Famous Grouse tray, just after they’d bought the business,” said Mr Brown.

The Grant family - of William Grant and Sons, owners of The Glenfiddich and Balvenie distilleries - are regulars. They have supplied the couple with glassware, and the table tops, which are barrel ends from used Balvenie and Glenfiddich casks, have been sanded and varnished by Mr Brown.

Everything here has a story, and Mr Brown is a keen storyteller. This feeds into the couple’s ethos that once you have booked in - and a booking is key as this is a popular spot - the table is yours for the night.

With only Mr Praiudtane cooking and everything made from scratch, there is no rush to turn tables and guests are offered a selection of board games to play while they wait for food.

During our visit in mid-October, the entire restaurant, mid games and starters, ended up outside admiring a wonderful Northern Lights display. But it’s the food we have come for.

If the idea of a Thai restaurant in the literal middle of nowhere isn’t appealing enough, then the multiple glowing online reviews may sway many. Mr Praiudtane has taken many traditional Thai dishes and given them a Scottish twist, such as the papaya salad made with neeps.

It is not my favourite of all the Scottish vegetables, but we decided to give it a try along with crispy prawns and corn fritters. Far from being bland, the salad is fresh and vibrant, a real makeover for the humble turnip.

The fritters and prawns are also delicious, moreish and served with small pots of sticky and spicy dips. Mains were the signature beef massaman curry and a fried fish red curry served with portions of rice.

Mr Praiudtane is keen to keep the ingredients as local and seasonal as possible, and grows many in the garden. When it comes to dessert, I was delighted that my favourite, Thai sticky rice, is on the menu. But, as Mr Brown said, “it’s a very special take on the dish”.

As mangos are not seasonal and it is expensive to get the right ones, Mr Praiudtane created a mango compote and served it with black sticky rice, pandan custard, peanuts and pistachios.

Many may chance upon The Croft Inn and expect classic pub grub, fish and chips or a pie and mash, rather than beef massaman or fried fish curry. But this is comforting, home cooked food.

Mr Praiudtane said: “You go to a country pub, you’re looking for a home-cooked meal. It doesn’t technically matter whether it’s Thai, Indian, Italian, French, Chinese, American – it doesn’t matter. What you’re looking for is a home-cooked meal.”

He worked as a chef in London, having met Mr Brown in Thailand in 2005 and moved to the UK capital in 2006. Although the couple wanted a B&B when they moved to Scotland, Mr Praiudtane found there was no Thai food in the places they were looking to relocate to.

“It was hard for me to eat the food, as I always eat Thai food,” he said. “I’m a chef anyway, so why not open a Thai restaurant?

“I make everything from scratch. Some of the vegetables are seasonal and organic, from the garden. It’s my passion. It’s Thai, but local, like the massaman curry, instead of potato there’s neeps. I don't like the texture of the potato in the sauce. I use roasted neep.” This dish is a signature of the menu and is cooked for five hours to let the flavours infuse.

It is not just all about seasonal vegetables, as autumn involved game coming from the local estates and being made into spring rolls and curries.

Mr Brown and Mr Praiudtane may not have planned on opening a pub, but The Croft Inn Highland Thai is a wonderful and very welcome addition to Scotland’s culinary landscape.

It’s a welcome, warm space with attentive service with a story. And honestly, it is one of the best meals I’ve had this year. It might be remote, for some, but it’s well worth the journey and one we’ll happily make again and again.