AuthenThai's alcohol licence bid blocked over nursery concerns
A Thai restaurant which shares a car park with a nursery has had its application to sell alcohol from midday turned down over concerns about the impact on children.The owners of AuthenThai, in Halfway, Sheffield, applied for a new licence seeking to extend its alcohol sales and opening hours.However, the application prompted objections from the Sheffield Children Safeguarding Partnership and Oak Valley Day Nursery, which said children should not see drinking adults during the daytime "on their doorstep".At a hearing last week, Sheffield City Council's Licensing Sub-Committee rejected the request to sell alcohol from midday but allowed the restaurant to extend its closing time from 21:00 to 23:00.
AuthenThai, which according to its website is open from 11:00 to 21:00, Tuesday to Sunday, is allowed to sell alcohol on the premises from 16:00 until closing time, Tuesday to Thursday, from noon until 21:00 on Friday, and from 15:00 to 21:00 at the weekend.Oak Valley Day Nursery had argued that the restaurant's revised application to sell alcohol from lunchtime seven days a week would effectively turn it into a "pub", according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.Nursery bosses said the change would interfere with their daily operations, as they are required to allow children access to outdoor space from noon onwards, in line with the Early Years Foundation Stage which they must follow under Ofsted registration.They added: "The image of adults sat around drinking alcohol in the daytime is not one that should be portrayed to children as 'normal', and be seen on their doorstep."The nursery, which is open from 07:00 to 19:00 Monday to Friday, also raised safeguarding concerns, noting that there had been incidents of individuals urinating along the nursery's fence.While the committee rejected the application in part, it allowed the restaurant to extend closing hours to 23:00 — specifically approving alcohol sales until 22:30.The committee also agreed to allow alcohol to be sold in sealed containers as part of takeaway orders during licensed hours, but stated that no drinks may be served or consumed while customers wait for their takeaway.Listen to highlights from South Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
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Our community members are treated to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. You can check out at any time. More info An unavoidable characteristic of a healthy city centre shopping destination is the steady multiplication of chain restaurants to serve the thousands of shoppers. As dining trends chop and change, restaurant units come and go, new openings pique the interest of casual diners eager for a mid-shop or post-work fill. The latest UK-wide chain to open on Cardiff's The Hayes is The Banana Tree, a south-Asian-flavoured addition to the Mill Lane end of town, right next to dependable, Japanese-inspired Wagamamas and opposite Francophile bistro chain, Cote. These types of restaurants are designed to fill you up - quickly, and set you back on your way to John Lewis or H&M, off to a big gig or for that capital city bar crawl/cocktail afternoon. 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From superstar gigs to cosy pubs, find out What's On in Wales by signing up to our newsletter here Starters On those starters, one was excellent, Mekong prawns (£8.25), one tasty, Malaysian chicken satay skewers (£8.95) and the Vietnamese spring rolls (£7.75) were my least favourite. They were slightly bland and lacking filling, even with the nuoc cham (Vietnamese fish sauce) although my partner disagreed and argued they were 'better than average'. The chicken satay skewers were chunky and moist and had a nice underlay of smoky flavour but it was the prawns that stood out. They came in a portion of four - always a bonus as I hate it when portions come in threes! - were butterflied and covered in a beautiful light, crunchy coating and sprinkled with crushed peanuts and fresh herbs. What the menu really undersells with the prawns is the 'chilli salsa' dipping sauce, it seemed so much more nuanced than that with a sweet, sour, sticky, tangy, chilli-bite to it that we really liked. Mains (Image: Kathryn Williams) With my dining partner honing in on the 'king of curries', the beef rendang, we were expecting good things. The curry dish itself comes with jasmine rice, Asian slaw and crackers. It's an attractive looking plate and a decent introduction to Malaysian food. The dark, thick nutty curry sauce coated the soft chunks of beef and there was enough to dip the prawn crackers into and stir in some rice. The Asian slaw was nice and broke up the unctous curry section of the meal. Beef rendang is a fairly rich, filling meal and I understand the slightly smaller portion accompanied by lots of different bits, than you'd normally get at an authentic, independent Malaysian place. If you're out for the day shopping or drinking in town, you don't want a massive bowl of rich, beef curry because that'll probably make you want to lie down, instead. So all in all, it's the ideal entry level rendang but if you like it I'd seek out either Jalan in Cathays or Masala Hut in Cardiff Market. (Image: Kathryn Williams) Over to my Thai railway rice, which I ordered with chicken and came served in a deep bowl, the signature banana leaf in situ and dressed with a nice charred half lime and a generous number of pickled lime slices. I really enjoyed this dish. It looked great, was a massive, filling portion (I took a big bulk of it home) and was just something that was warming, comforting, a really satisfying dish. You know the way oodles of people love ramen for its comfortable soupy wholesomeness, well, sticky, stodgy, tasty rice dishes are my ramen. And this massively fitted the bill. Could I make it at home? Yes, probably, but could I be bothered to make it at home - probably not and I don't possess a Wally's level of spice mixes and fish sauces. What is railway rice I hear you ask? 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