Paradai Thai II, Carnegie MELB

A strange week it had been when we made our way to Carnegie, one that left us too drained to have a proper conversation. Weather was still freezing which made it the perfect excuse to tuck into some hot and spicy fare.

Chicken spring rolls - deep fried minced chicken served with a side of sweet chilli sauce. Not too bad although would like to see a bit more meat in each roll.

Pla rad prik aka deep fried fish fillets served with fried egg noodles and sweet sour tamarind sauce - fish fillets were fried to golden perfection but aside from that, I thought the tamarind sauce was a tad too salty to my liking. Fried egg noodles were served as small, broken crumbs, raising the question as to whether these were leftover bits from previously.

Pad ruammit aka stir fried mixed vegetables with chicken in garlic and oyster sauce - a simple dish but again, I found it bordering on the saltier side of the scale.

Red duck curry - curry had a good aroma to it and had a good mix of sweet and spicy flavours. Only downside was that again, it was too salty to my liking and had to be mixed with a lot of rice to "dilute" it out.

My Cambodia, Springvale MELB

I love trying out new cuisines at unfamiliar places, be it suspicious looking or not, and whether I walk out knowing that I have discovered a hidden treasure is entirely a different part of the story. The thrill seeker in me would still be glad to have at least ticked another place off my books.

Among the three of us, I was the only one who had not been to Cambodia and so, was probably the one who should be the most curious at the menu. Sadly, my companions disappointed me by not knowing much about the local cuisine despite having visited the country prior. Oh well, so that makes three of us on a new venture then...

A mix of Vietnamese, Cambodian and Thai cuisine is evident in their menu, with a few simple Chinese dishes such as fried koay teow and chicken rice. Staff were very friendly and prices were quite affordable.

Avocado smoothie - very milky and could improve with more avocado incorporated into it.

Prawn spring roll - a little greasy but served us well as entrees.

Three colour drink - one of my favourites in Melbourne by far. Reminded me of a Malaysian shaved ice dessert but only loaded with beans, sweet potatoes and yams. Bliss.

Phnom Penh noodles - interesting how this arrived unexpectedly loaded with the other organs of which, I did not really touch and passed them on to my companions. Probably not my cup of tea but still worth a try if you prefer simple, unpretentious meals.

Combination broken rice - one of those staples that is hard to mess with. Crisp and juicy pork served with a side of acidity to cut through the fatty sensation, all served atop a bed of broken rice that had been slightly soaked in the fish sauce dressing.

Cambodian vermicelli green curry fish soup - the highlight of our meal. It is certainly an unfamiliar taste for us although my companion did mention that it is decent tasting. Again, I cannot comment having never tried it before.

Siam Village, Mount Waverley MELB

Spontaneous outings are spontaneous for a reason and of late, its a ritual that I have been looking forward to despite my daily post-gym/work exhaustion. Having good company does make a lot of difference in terms of uplifting my mood, indirectly calming my scrambled brain cells.

Place was moderately full of hungry customers and despite the menu not being as extensive as compared to other restaurants, we still struggled to decide on what to have and probably spent more time rambling on about other topics :p

Pad thai - I liked how there was an even, generous distribution of ingredients amidst the thin strands of noodles, topped by a handful of beansprouts and a sprinkle of spring onions. Flavours were not too bad either.

Chicken jungle curry - a bowl full of vegetables and chicken pieces. Mildly spicy and goes well with steamed rice :)

Red duck curry - one of my favourite types of meat swimming in a bowl of capsicum and lychee pieces. Again, it was mildly spicy but still has a good kick of spices in it.

Overall, a pleasant dinner experience it was. Always good to have attentive waiting staff and food did arrive in good timing so no qualms there. Topped by a very entertaining companion, could not have asked for a better way to mellow down on Friday night.

Thai Garden Restaurant, Glen Waverley MELB

As winter draws nearer, it is becoming increasingly difficult for me to drag myself out to scavenge for food, let alone cook a decent meal. Hence, my attempt at feeding myself with minimal effort aka visiting nearby restaurants that offer ample of parking area and quick service.

Green curry chicken ~ kudos to having an assortment of veggies in one bowl and for generous chicken portions as well. Only downside was it was verging on the sweet side for me as opposed to being very aromatic in terms of spices.

Pad see ew with chicken ~ one of my favourite Thai dishes and I found this one to be decent for a quick fix. If chicken does not tickle your fancy, you can opt for the beef or pork or prawns version.

Paradise Road, Glen Waverley MELB

Celebrations are joyous events that may give one an excuse to splurge a little. After all, you are only celebrating that event once a year or once in a lifetime so why hold back?

As the hostess of this little feast, I was assigned to scout for good fare that is conveniently located for all of us and I'm sure you can guess where it is - yep, Glen Waverley. Considering that it was a Saturday night as well, bookings are necessary to avoid unwanted frustrations or anxieties.

Thai milk tea ~ most of us would have tried the Taiwanese or Hong Kong version of milk tea which is very similar to the Thai version. However, the Thai version does pack a lot more punch in terms of caffeine, much to my liking.

Fresh Tasmanian oysters with red chilli nahm jim and coriander ~ can't say I am a fan of ordering oysters at restaurants as it is costs more as opposed to purchasing it fresh from the markets. These oysters costs us $9 for 3 oysters. Flavour wise, whilst we enjoyed the nahm jim, the coriander slightly overpowered the delicate oyster taste.

Seafood tom yum ~ a traditional dish that we all liked to order at Thai restaurants. It may look spicy but in my opinion, it was only mildly spicy.

Yam woon sen ~ glass noodles with chicken, seafood and an assortment of vegetables. If you're ordering ala carte and not sharing with friends, this would be the dish to have. It is extremely refreshing and packed with tangy, sweet and slightly spicy flavours to entice your tastebuds. Oh and did I mention that it is also one heck of a healthy dish?;)

Thai pineapple fried rice ~ I am secretly obsessed with fried rice (it's a childhood habit) although I am aware that having too much of it can be a bad thing. This is one of the dishes that the Thais do extremely well. Rice is fried to golden perfection and just like the yam woon sen dish, this one is also packed with veggies and meat.

Masaman beef curry ~ when one has a rice dish at the table, it is only customary to order a curry dish with it. The flavours in this curry are quite mild but the beef pieces here had a nice consistency aka not chewy but soft.

Deep fried whole barramundi with Thai chilli sauce ~ what's a celebration without a fish? Despite being deep fried, the fish was not greasy at all. The drizzle of tangy dressing on top of the fish was refreshing and complimented the blanched vegetables well.

Mango sticky rice ~ seasonally available,  do order this if you get a chance. The amount of sticky rice on the plate is not overwhelming so fret not that it'll be too much to handle. We had a generous amount of fresh, sweet mango pieces on our plate and noted that the coconut cream takes down the sweetness by a notch. A perfect dessert to end the night.

Rose of Thailand, Glen Waverley, MELB

Cold winter nights calls for comfort food in the form of spices with a tinge of heat. In other words, my subconscious is desperately begging for Thai and I was more than happy to oblige with a trip around the block.

This place is usually packed on the weekends so be sure to reserve a table beforehand. On the other hand, not as packed on the weekdays and in terms of service, a lot more better when it's not as packed. Staff were extremely busy hustling around the restaurant when I appeared on Saturday but when I rocked up on Tuesday night, they were a lot more relaxed and even had the time to run through the menu with me.

For starters, we were given a basket of crackers, complimentary on the house.

Tom yum soup with seafood ~ I am familiar with the fire-y red tom yum soup and so, was initially confused when this arrived on my table. However, contrary to the spicy red one I usually have, this one had a much more subtle tone to it and was replaced by a stronger punch of sourness. Not unbearable but rather, prepares my palate for the next few dishes.

Yum seafood salad ~ Covered with an assortment of seafood and generous amounts of herbs, onions and garlic, this may not be a date qualified dish. Although it does test your date's tolerance haha. It was a refreshing dish that is well-dressed with a mildly spicy chilli dressing.

Thai milk tea ~ in case you are wondering, no, it is not highly caffeinated so do feel free to order one!

Pad kee mao ~ I am obsessed with the Thai version of drunken noodles and found this dish satisfying. The noodles had a nice charred flavour to it and each stand was neither too dry or soggy.

Kao Pud aka fried rice ~

Green curry ~ if you are not a fan of red chillies, perhaps give this green curry a try. It has a creamy texture which goes well with the plate of fried rice that we ordered. Generous amounts of chicken pieces in it too!

On a separate day, I visited this place for desserts. Firstly, I found that prices of alcohol here is a lot more affordable than most places albeit the smaller variety available. Secondly, their desserts are mostly made in house except for the ice cream that is sourced straight from the motherland. I liked their Thai custard cake served with coconut ice cream. Not too sweet and would be a light finish to a meal.

I have also tried their sticky rice with mango ice cream which sadly, does not have fresh mango pieces due to it being unavailable this season. The ice cream is fantastic. I would happily finish off the entire tub myself haha. Had also tried their taro pearls which reminded me of bubur cha cha, a thick coconut cream type of sweet soup. It's not sickeningly sweet if you're wondering but definitely something different if you have not tried it before.

Jinda Thai Restaurant, Abbotsford MELB

I have a list of "must eat" places in Melbourne whereby a few places are slowly getting marked off from the list. Slowly as in progressing at snail speed. But hey, a treat with loved ones every now and then will surely compensate for the travelling distance, right?:)

This happened a few weeks ago so please bear with me as I do not have the best memory in the world.

Fish cakes with peanut dipping sauce ~ an easy start for the night.

This may look like a semi-fried slice of pumpkin. But it's not! It's actually a piece of deep fried fish.

Green chicken curry ~ not too spicy but still has a pleasantly mild tinge of chilli in it. Chicken pieces were tender and that sauce..irresistible with rice.

Fried rice ~ Very rarely can I cook up a decent plate of fried rice and so, it's a dish that I am keen on trying out with friends. Satisfied I was with the golden colour rice that is quickly fried with it's condiments.

From memory, this was a seafood broth that had little hints of tangy and sweetness to it. The four of us had 2 portions each and boy, was the chef generous with the quantity of seafood in it.

Deep fried soft shell crab with egg ~ oh yum, I can't say no to soft shell crabs at all. What's not to love about something that's so easy to eat and requires little messing around with. The sinful egg gravy paired perfectly with the crunchy pieces of soft shell crabs. I may be biased here but do try this out yourself and let me know what you think!

Pandan crepe cake ~ and now..the much anticipated section of the blog.. *drum rolls* I spotted this dessert many months prior to coming here and alas, I get to sink my teeth into it. The pandan flavour blends well with the coconut ice cream. The "sauce" here had subtle hints of pandan and in a way, lends some moisture and flavour to the cake. Overall, favourite flavour for the night.

Thai milk tea crepe cake ~ this was a much sweeter version when compared to the pandan flavoured one. Still delicious overall but favourite is still the pandan edition. Did note that there were many other flavours on the menu to which, we unfortunately could not finish by ourselves. 

Home Thai Restaurant, Sussex Street in Sydney

More blog posts on my Sydney trip and this time round, I dropped by a Thai restaurant. Despite living in a country next to Thailand, Thai cuisine is not something that we commonly have regardless of the occassion. I slowly developed an interest towards Thai food over the years living in North Adelaide, a place that's very close to many finger licking Thai restaurants.

I have been to Chat Thai last July to which, I concluded Thai food in Sydney is a tad more spicier compared to Adelaide's versions but on the flip side, there are a lot more affordable options to choose from. Home Thai was no different to Chat Thai. It had the same relaxed ambience that pairs really well with the robust flavoured food they serve.

Coconut juice and Thai milk tea ~ interestingly enough, I did not realize there's a Thai milk tea version which tasted rather similar to teh tarik (Malaysian pulled tea with condensed milk) except that their's were a bit more sweeter. Still pretty good in my opinion:)

Green papaya salad ~ Papaya or paw paw is a favourite among us South East Asians and so, we couldn't miss trying this out. I immediately fell in love with the crunchy and refreshing thin slices of papaya. The vinaigrette was a simple lime and palm sugar mixture that was subtly mild to taste. I was happy to have a generous serve of peanuts and dried shrimp in the salad which lent the dish a lot of texture.

Pad Kee Mao with chicken ~ the waiter allowed us to choose the chilli level of the dish and somebody made a horrific mistake of uttering spicy without much thought. The dish was indeed spicy but we managed to dig through it without too much water breaks and were still able to taste the noodles and its companion ingredients. Only mistake somebody made was to bite into a tiny piece of chilli that spiraled into a few minutes of unstoppable pain. Haha.

Durian sticky rice ~ I wanted to have desserts as it sounded very enticing on the menu. Noticed there's a durian dish on board and I could not say no. The sticky rice was beautifully coloured and topped with some durian flesh and drizzled generously with coconut milk. So sinfully yummy!

Mango sticky rice ~ an alternative to the durian sticky rice dish but with less coconut milk involved. Still loved this one although if I had a choice, the durian sticky rice wins hands down.

Overall, we had an enjoyable lunch meal here. The service is very efficient and quick, no time wasted whatsoever. The food was affordable, delicious and definitely made me look up flight fares for my next Sydney trip!