662014 Sat Oct 24 17:18:04 -0700 2009 2 37 Australia/New Zealand 0 5128311 We enjoyed a good fun meal at “Crocodile Senior Thai”, thanks to Debbieann for organising the meet-up with mr_gimlet (& Helen), Fergal76, Charles and my SO present. It was a great way for us to try the breadth of the menu, Charles took control and soon the table was groaning under the weight of food, but still more dishes kept arriving. Crocodile Senior Thai has a strong northern Thai influence and so there are quite a few dishes on the menu that are unusual in mainstream restaurants. It is a bit tricky to give too much detail on the food as the speed of service made it difficult to pause and reflect. My standouts were the soup with intestines, which had a real depth of flavour, a wood fungus dish, which was really different and had a fantastic texture, and the Larb, which was well spiced. I was a bit disappointed by the Som Tum as it lacked spicing and balance, disappointing especially as there are 5 or 6 Som Tums on the menu. Thai restaurants obviously can’t all be lumped into the same category. There places specialising in Royal Siam cuisine, others like Crocodile Senior are more rustic and regional. Comparing and contrasting across categories is always tricky so it isn’t appropriate to do a side by side with a place like Longrain. But even in it’s category, whilst I thought this to be good, it isn’t really great food. It is worth a visit for the less common dishes, which helped build out my understanding of Thai food. What did others think? I think I have done my dash on Thai for the moment, next up is Indian. Terry Durack made this comment in the SMH recently “Low-caste Indian. Hooray for Bollywood but we are in dire need of good modern Indian cuisine” and I am not certain how true it is (although many of his other comments are very true). So time to dive into the Indian scene and see what is around. Sat Oct 24 17:18:04 -0700 2009 64584 PhilD 1 5128835 Abhi's at Nth Strathfield has always been good. The sister restaurant (Akhi's) at Woolloomooloo seems to have lost its touch in the past few years though Otherwise, for cheap & cheerfuls... Janani, in Homebush or Billu's, in Harris Pk Sat Oct 24 23:07:51 -0700 2009 5128311 1083902 Onara 1 5132943 Many thanks for Debbieann organizing. It was good to meet up with fellow enthusiasts. As I'm still getting to grips with Thai, I found it a very enjoyable meal. I particularly enjoyed the breadth of dishes, especially the intestine soup with some 'dark' flavours. The wood fungus was great to try, but a little challenging texture wise. I agree the Som Tum was the only minor disappointment. I will be back, but it does require fellow adventurous eaters to get the most out of this place. fergal Mon Oct 26 16:36:03 -0700 2009 5128311 216695 fergal76