653518 Sat Sep 19 16:27:28 -0700 2009 10 37 Australia/New Zealand 0 5042705 You really can’t get great Thai food in Europe, even David Thompson’s Nahm isn’t a patch on his old Darley Street Thai, I know lots of home sick expats would argue there are some good ones but I think that is simple a result of fading memory. So back in Sydney a week and we already have two under our belt, and wow, it is so good to be back. We think it must be the quality of fresh ingredients that makes the difference, everything has a zing and freshness that lifts the taste of the food. First off a trip to “Spice I am” in Wentworth Avenue. It has got a little more fancy since the early days, but is still pretty basic. A 40 minute wait for a table which shortened to 20 (and they take mobile numbers so you can head off for a beer, or pick up BYO as it isn’t licensed). The menu is good, with a broad range of dishes and 3 or 4 specials of the day. We opt for three mains, a Som Tum (green papaya salad), Basil Crispy Pork Belly and a Green Chicken Curry. I know the last one is a cop out but if you haven’t had a good one for a few years it becomes a craving. The food is good, in fact very good. Maybe not quite as vibrant and interesting as I remember, but still good value at approx. $50 for two. One worrying aspect was the waiter asked how hot we wanted some of the dishes, and warned us about the green curry. Have they “de-tuned” the cooking for the suburban palate, we thought it may have been. The next night we find ourselves at the Opera Bar, it is good to see how popular the place is and how much bigger it is, but maybe they need to add more bars as well as more space for punters, 15 minutes for a $7 beer is not fun...! So we decided to retire to another old haunt “Sailor Thai Canteen”, we managed to grab a seat on the balcony rather than the shared table. Again a good menu with some specials. We shared a mixed plate of specials to start, a very prawny spring role and a fried spinach dumpling which was great with lots of spice. For mains we chose another Green Curry, this time with beef, and Som Tum. Both dishes have a lot of depth and complexity, the beef has been simmered for hours (in coconut milk?) so it simply falls apart. The Sum Tom seems fresher and crunchier than Spice I am’s version, it also comes with wonderful chunks of glazed pork, which is so much better tan the Spice I am deep fried pork. But, and it is a big but, both the main course dishes lack heat, there is simply no spicing. The green curry is a bit muddy in colour, is this a sign there aren’t many chillies in the paste? And the Sum Tom is really quite flat without any chili kick. It is quite strange, the dumplings to start had a good kick but nothing else has, I ate here in March and the spicing was good. Is it a new chef? A mistake? Or again de-tuning for a suburban audience. We will try it again as it is an old favourite we have eaten in many, many times. Hopefully, it was a one off. It is interesting to compare the two places. Sailor Thai cost $70 without booze, and Spice I am was $50. We ate about the same amount in each, and as Spice I am is BYO the booze costs pushes then further apart. But, I do believe you can see the difference in the quality of the food. Both are good Thais, Sailor Thai has the edge in terms of quality of ingredient, coking techniques and quality of ingredient. If Sailor Thai get the spicing right then for me it is far better food than Spice am I. However, are both restaurants becoming too mainstream for serious Thai food enthusiasts. We aim to get to Longrain soon to compare. Where else should we try? Which is the latest happening Thai? Sat Sep 19 16:27:29 -0700 2009 64584 PhilD 1 5051304 Longrain and Sailor's Thai ! Wed Sep 23 02:46:30 -0700 2009 5042705 29016 infernooo 2 5051340 Both old favourites which we will revisit. any thoughts on Chat Thai, At Bangkok or Crocodile Senior? Wed Sep 23 04:16:05 -0700 2009 5051304 64584 PhilD 3 5051447 I would put them in the value for money category. Plenty of good but not great food at low prices. Thai is theone thing I think is much better in Sydney than in Melbourne Wed Sep 23 05:41:54 -0700 2009 5051340 236726 mr_gimlet 1 5096420 My wife and I made it to Longrain last week. It was a Tuesday night so we didn't go the whole hog, but we were a little disappointed by the meal. We went for the duck salad, braised beef in a sweet and sour source, trout steamed with chilli and som tum. A couple of the dishes were very good, but the trout had really heavy-handed spicing, killing all other flavours. The simplest point of comparison is Sailors Thai and it didn't really surpass it our mind and for the price it isn't really excusable. I'll go again, but the jury is out. Has anybody had similar experiences or was mine an aberration? fergal review at - www.foodmiles.wordpress.com Mon Oct 12 03:41:30 -0700 2009 5042705 216695 fergal76 2 5097617 Fergal - heading here tonight, so will report back. Are you comparing LG with downstairs at ST? (on my list as well). Mon Oct 12 13:19:00 -0700 2009 5096420 64584 PhilD 3 5098423 Hi, I'm comparing it with 'upstairs' ST. Downstairs is also on my list and I guess more formal, which LG isn't. My experience may be due to poor ordering. I didn't try the colossal eggnet. Also a few diners around me were raving about the pork hock with chili vinegar. might be worth a try. Just avoid the trout! Mon Oct 12 18:50:56 -0700 2009 5097617 216695 fergal76 4 5103431 We had a very good meal at Longrain, each dish was interesting and the flavours deep and good. We probably ordered badly and didn't balance the dishes (it is always tricky with four people adding their favourites). The Eggnet is very good, but we also ordered a Green Papaya salad which was a bit too close in texture and style. They had a Green Beef Curry which was again good, but we also ordered a red lamb curry, and again the two curries were not far enough apart in flavour. Both of the papaya salad and green curry seemed a touch light on heat and lacked a bit of punch when compared to Spice I am etc. I suppose it is the compromise that is made to achieve such broad popularity. But it does make ordering a bit tricky as you would hope a green curry would pack some heat to contrast to the red curries richer taste. Other dishes tried included the Caramalised Pork Hock which is seriously good, and a Salted Fish which again was great. We had five and a half dishes between four (the half dish was a small Eggnet) and this was far too much food. We felt that whilst the dishes are quite expensive the portion size is good, and it is a good tip to see if they will do half serves if you want variety. The bill was $286 for four, including $99 of drinks (2 x bottles wine, plus a beer) which wasn't to bad for the quantity of quality. Based on this meal and our last meal at Sailor Thai Canteen Longrain has the edge, but both have dishes with neutered heat. But we plan a rematch at Sailor Thai as our last meal wasn't representative of the meals we have eaten there over the last 10 years. Next on the list is Crocodile Senior Thai for some Issan food - thanks to debbieanne for the review on http://blog.edgeplay.org/2009/09/crocodile-senior-thai.html Wed Oct 14 15:05:20 -0700 2009 5098423 64584 PhilD 5 5104003 My partner, Charles, wrote that. I was thinking we need to go back to see if it just happened to be that good, or it is consistently good. (so hard to balance getting to new places and getting to places more than once) ANYWAY, it seems like a place that we could have a chowhound meetup, and it doesn't matter if people do or don't show up. The more people, the more things we can order! What do people think? Wed Oct 14 19:08:43 -0700 2009 5103431 17626 debbieann 6 5104278 I would be up for that. Wed Oct 14 21:16:12 -0700 2009 5104003 64584 PhilD 7 5104282 I'll start a new topic Wed Oct 14 21:18:44 -0700 2009 5104278 17626 debbieann