Thainatown, Haymarket

Thainatown's a really basic Thai eatery which, as its name suggests, is in close proximity to Chinatown (although further east along Goulburn Street than the main strip of pubs and restaurants near World Square). With white tiled flooring and garish lighting, my friends and I felt a prick of dubiousness, but we ruthlessly squelched these misgivings and ventured inside. Please excuse the photo quality - taken with phone camera.

Chrysanthemum tea (~$3.00)

I ordered the crying tiger, expecting a plate of chargrilled steak with an accompanying spicy sauce. What I received was a pretty underwhelming plate of slightly grey, limp beef strips. There was no sauce - looking back in hindsight, I think we were expected to scoop sauce from the little metal bowls on each table. The beef was tasteless and not particularly enjoyable to bite into. I guess I got my money's worth, though, because there was a LOT of beef on that plate.

Crying Tiger (~$11.00)

The sticky rice was a large bowl's (2 - 3 rice bowls?) worth of rice, steaming hot inside a woven bamboo basket. They made it pretty well and it tasted great with the ingredients of the tom yum soup.

Sticky rice (~$3.00)

The tom yum soup stock was flavourful (albeit a bit sweeter than expected and not spicy). It had strong flavours of lemongrass and cooked coriander, while mushrooms and prawns made up the majority of solids.

Prawn Tom Yum soup (~$9.00)

My overall feelings are torn. It's certainly value for money because what the crying tiger lacked in flavour, it made up for in portions, and vice versa for the tom yum soup. I just don't think I'll be trying much meat here next time.

Thanon Khaosan, Haymarket

A few weeks ago, I finally took up one of Spidey's suggestions and dropped into Thanon Khaosan (the place with the tuk tuk and takeaway desserts). Thankfully it had a few free tables even though (because?) it was 7pm on a weeknight.

The wall of Thai number plates and hanging bird cages provided fodder for smalltalk while awaiting the arrival of our food.

For our entree, we had the tod man goong (prawn cakes). I commenced eating immediately, while the Boy considered them to be foreign objects and suspiciously prodded one. Fried and chewy, they were like an oilier version of the Chinese fish cakes that we normally have with noodles. The light plum sauce added a welcome sweetness. Unfortunately, they were a tad dense and soggy, lacking the crispiness that I'd so been looking forward to.

Prawn cakes (4 pieces) ($8.90)

The red curry chicken was pretty standard - creamy and rich with bamboo shoots, broccoli and carrots. It was a little bit spicier than what you would find in the average Thai restaurant in Sydney.

Chicken red curry ($14.90)

The neah yang, or marinated BBQ beef with tamarind sauce, had a sweet yet smoky flavour. Most of the meat was tender enough, but 1 in 4 pieces were too nervy to eat.

Neah yang ($13.90)

The fried rice was pretty addicting. Possibly because of the bits of pork belly. And the chilli-basil that the rice was fried in. Basil is yum. Kind of oily, but it meant the rice was moist.

Khao san fried rice ($14.90)

We asked if we could add the takeaway desserts to our bill, but were soundly rejected - we had to go to the front, select our desserts, and pay then and there. This was a small feat because I'm uncoordinated and can't juggle a wallet, money and plates :(

Desserts we had were as follows:

• Coconut and red bean with a bottom layer of glutinous rice
• Coconut cream on sago
• Coconut cream and pandan

They reminded me of my mum's nyonya kueh. Though ever the loyal daughter, I still hold that her kueh is better :P The coconut cream components were by far the sweet parts of the desserts, while the layers that they were paired up with were more bland to balance off the sugar. The Boy's favourite was the coconut and sago, while mine was the coconut and red bean combination.

Overall, a satisfying meal, though probably not the best Thai I've had.

$2.00 each

Khao Pla, Chatswood

For a few months now I've been hearing about a fantastic little Thai place situated in what's practically my hometown. I had to search it up on the Internet, because I never actually paid attention to Khao Pla in passing! The address confused me a little because I read "Victoria Avenue" and thought it would be around the Concourse, but its shop lot opens onto Anderson Street (opposite to Bao Dao/ Moochi/ Houlihan's... which I've realised all happen to bear Victoria Avenue addresses).

Khao Pla's chef, Pla Rojratanavichai, has had the likes of Spice I Am, Mr Wong and Ms G's under his belt, which probably explains all the hype surrounding this particular eatery. It's this hype that has generated pretty consistent dinner-time queues, and due to inconvenient hunger pangs, it's taken a few attempts to actually get a table.

On the day we decided to commit to the half hour wait, we'd finished watching a movie, which meant we hadn't gone a moment without chewing on some sort of snack. Since a waiter was planted at the front of the restaurant to greet patrons, we were able to leave our mobile number with them, giving us the freedom of going walkabout to work up a bigger appetite.

Exterior

Due to the minimal space, most of the tables make up one long table, which means that there's a bit of manoeuvring required to get to the benches at the wall. Khao Pla probably isn't the best setting for an intimate date/ catch-up, as you have to shout across the table to your dinner partner (which also means you can clearly hear the conversations of the people on either side of you). It didn't help that there was a large group of diners who had drunk several bottles of wine already and were guffawing loudly - though who could blame them? They were celebrating a birthday, after all.

Even with that half hour to gain precious stomach space, we were still borderline peckish, so we went with 2 dishes and steamed jasmine rice to share.

First to arrive was the crying tiger. It was char grilled wagyu beef accompanied by a generous amount of sauce. Succulent and juicy, I don't think the beef really needed the sauce, though it did provide an extra punch of sweet, sour and spicy flavours.

Crying tiger ($16.00); Rice ($2.50)

 Second was a green chicken curry with thai eggplant, ginger, bamboo shoots, Thai basil and kaffir lime leaves. The curry was pretty standard, except it was particularly hot - when the waitress went around checking on each table, she even teased me about the crimson state of my face :(

Gaeng keaw wan (Green curry) ($14.00)

Summary:

• Food is:
• Good
• Spicy
• Portions a bit small / prices a tad high given small portions
• 2 people should probably order 3 dishes to share + steamed rice or roti / 2 dishes + rice or noodle main
• Noisy
• Stools - those who need back support will need to sit on the benches
• I would come back - I particularly want to sample the tom yum soup!

Menu disclosed below:-

Menu

Saap Thai, Sydney CBD

My friend and I were heading towards Sea Bay because we heard they served cheap dumplings. Unfortunately, at the time it was peak lunch hour and it was absolutely packed, so we moved on to its neighbour, Saap Thai. Saap Thai is pretty small - we were sitting on one end, at the second last table, so the photo below will give you a pretty good idea of just how limited space is.

Sitting far away from the sun

They were evidently well versed with lunch crowds, as the food came soon after we ordered.

My Panang beef curry with rice was incredibly large - there was an abundance of rice (there must have been 2 rice bowls of it at least) and plenty of beef. The beef was fairly tender and the cut chosen was reasonable (most of the strips were entirely edible, not the sinewy nervy bits that cheap restaurants often give you). The curry was moderately spicy, quite sweet, and slightly milky. The beans and broccoli didn't seem old, making the overall quality of the dish excellent given the price and generous servings.

Panang beef curry with rice ($8.90)

I would like to report a similarly good experience with the sides I had, but they were pretty bland.

Firstly, the vegetarian curry puffs were limp and soggy, while the filling wasn't memorable. I don't know why I even bothered ordering curry puffs in a Thai restaurant, but evidently my mind was elsewhere at the time. 

Secondly, the spring rolls were crispy, but they went overboard with the noodles and there wasn't much else inside. Once again, they lacked flavour. I had a couple of small bites and didn't bother finishing the rest. And once again, I'll think twice before ordering spring rolls at a Thai place. The carrots on which the spring rolls and curry puffs were served looked like dried bits of carrot skin, brown and old.

Vegetable curry puffs x 2 ($2.50); Vegetarian spring rolls x 2 ($2.50)

All in all, a good place for a quick and cheap lunch. Just don't expect much more.

It's Time for Thai, Kingsford

It's Time for Thai is one of the many casual restaurants on Anzac Parade - except slightly nicer than the myriad of Chinese takeaways in the area, with its funky multi-coloured lights and wooden benches. Having eaten lunch at this restaurant various times throughout the past few months, I can definitely say that it fills up quickly but also has quite a high turnover of customers (though be forewarned that the timing of dish delivery is hit and miss).

As with a lot of other 'Thai' restaurants, there is a tendency for the food to be made sweeter to accommodate the local palate. It's Time for Thai is no exception. The pricing of the lunch specials, however, is excellent, resulting in value for money where everything chicken and beef is $10, lamb is $13, and... well... the list goes on.

The lunch menu

When ordering one of their curry or soup dishes, you can choose between rice or roti canai. I've had both their green and red curries, which taste pretty much the same - they're both milky and sweet. The massaman curry is full of potato and meat (beef, in my case), has a fair bit of sweetness, but is also quite spicy. The roti canai is dense but flaky, and, despite being quite small in diameter, is quite filling as they give you two pieces of it (though I'm a fairly small eater).

Beef massaman curry with roti ($10)

I've also tried their noodles stir fried in chilli and basil sauce. Not limited to just rice, you can request both rice noodles and egg noodles! The portions are generous, with plenty of meat and vegetables. The flavour isn't bad and it makes a satisfying lunch.

Beef chilli and basil sauce egg noodles ($11)

Other dishes:

Chicken pad thai ($10)

Crispy chicken with rice + fried egg ($12)

Chicken pad kee mao ($10)

Overall: Value for money

Holy Basil, Sydney CBD

Holy Basil is located in the Shark Hotel, just a couple of minutes' walk down Liverpool Street from Downing Centre. At the entrance was a giant statute and a screen saying Holy Basil, but the combination of the neon Shark Hotel sign and dim lighting rendered me confused and utterly deterred from venturing there alone - which was just as well, as their portions are quite sizable.


Since then, I've been there twice - once for lunch and once for dinner. To find Holy Basil within the hotel, venture up the stairs of the entrance. It's situated just past the bar and lounge area and fairly hard to miss due to the prominent decor.

Lunch was my first visit, upon which I realised that it's best to share whatever you order. I got a bowl of steamed jasmine rice and a beef Gang Dang/ red curry, both of which can be seen to be pretty big (relative to the spoons).

The red curry, as expected from eating Thai in Sydney, was sweet and very rich from the coconut milk (lemak, as Malaysians would describe it). Spiciness (or lack of) is not a problem, as you can select 1 of 3 levels of spiciness. The beef was tough and dry, and the vegetables weren't the best (the green beans felt and tasted old). However, one can't complain too much given the price and size of the meal.

Steamed jasmine rice ($3) & Beef red curry ($12.90)

The lunchtime crowd wasn't too bad and it was easy to get a table.

Friday Dinner, on the other hand, is a bit of a gamble if you want to show up without having made a booking beforehand. Some childhood friends and I decided to use it as the location for one of our catch-ups, and one of them thankfully had the foresight to recommend booking a table, as the restaurant turned out to be very full.

It's not a good place to have a discussion, as you're surrounded by chatter from the other tables. If you've been to a busy Chinese restaurant before, think worse. Sitting at a table for 4, we ended up shouting and still had a hard time understanding each other.

We started off with a Thai papaya salad. It was fresh but contained too many bean sprouts for my liking and came off as a bit tasteless.

Som tam salad ($10.90)

Our mains were then delivered. We had glutinous (sticky) rice that came bundled up in a woven basket to eat with our red roast duck curry (gang ped yang) and seafood oyster sauce stir fry (pad nam mun hoi), which came with broccoli, carrot and mushrooms. We also ordered a beef pad thai that tasted like ketchup was used for sauce.

Glutinous rice ($3)

Gang ped yang ($17.90)

Pad nam mun hoi ($16.90)

Beef pad thai ($12.90)

We finished off with the fried ice-cream, which is by far the one thing that distinguishes Holy Basil from all the other Thai/ Laotian restaurants out there. Its novelty not only comes from it being FRIED ICE-CREAM, but from the pastry they use to package the ice-cream with. The pastry is flaky, crispy and light. Paired with the sauce, it tasted like caramel popcorn. Each parcel is quite big, so a lot of tables split them between 2 people.

Fried ice-cream ($13.90)

Moral of the story: eat the fried ice-cream if you eat nothing else there.