Archive for the ‘Thai’ Category

Red Door Corner Store

Saturday, March 28th, 2009

Located at the bottom of Northcote hill to the east of High Street, Red Door Corner Store (70 Mitchell St, Northcote) is charting new territory for good cafes. There’s really nothing like it that I know of within a 2km radius.

What ‘it’ is, is a converted milk bar serving really good food and coffee. We tried the avocado, basil, cottage cheese, spinach and poached egg with fresh lemon on toast. While that sounds like one ingredient too many, it’s actually perfect, particularly the delicious cottage cheese. And despite only coming with a single egg, it’s reasonably filling and great value at just $11. The bread comes from Hawthorn’s Knead Bakery, and is has great texture thanks to the walnuts in it.

There are a couple of things that could be improved, such as the the coffee, which is just okay (not great). And like a lot of places that have enjoyed quick success, the service can be a bit slow. Our coffees arrived well after our meals. With food as good as this though, these faults are easily ignored.

Posted in Breakfast, Melbourne (CBD), Northcote, Thai | No Comments »

MamaNee Thai Restaurant

Thursday, January 29th, 2009

I’m always on the lookout for good, cheap Thai that’s closer to home than Thaila Thai, so the arrival of Mamanee (324 Smith St, Collingwood) definitely peaked my interest. It’s got a fresh-looking shopfront, and the food is prepared up the front, which is generally a good sign.

A quick glance at the menu, and I could see it ticked another box on price, with most curries and stir fries at $13.50. This is a little pricier than Thaila Thai, but rice comes free with these dishes at Mamanee. Vegetarian dishes are

With the food prepared up the front, I could see the raw ingredients were on display, which gave me further confidence. Everything looked good quality, including the meat. Tick.

I ordered a green chicken curry and a chili basil beef stir fry, and I’m pleased to say that both were great. The curry had a bit of filler vegetable in the form of large chunks of carrot and potato, but was well cooked and there was a bit of fire to the rich green sauce. Likewise, the stir fry was equally good, with the vegetables quite crisp, not having been overcooked or fished out of a freezer as is the case at some Thai restaurants. Tick.

Servings are generous, both the main dishes and the ‘complimentary’ rice. Tick.

Recommended.

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Posted in Collingwood, Thai | 1 Comment »

Thaila Thai

Thursday, April 10th, 2008

I’m not sure how Thaila Thai (82 Lygon St, Brunswick East) does it – serve up generous portions of delicious and fresh Thai dishes for such low prices. Yes, there are other Thai restaurants that are just as cheap, however the quality isn’t the same.

There’s the standard range of curries, stir fries and salads to choose from, all at around $10 for vegetable or chicken/beef, with seafood a few dollars more.

Curries here are drier and less soupy than those at most Thai restaurants, but they’re still rich with coconut flavour. The meat is good quality – in the case of the chicken, it actually seems to be breast meat. Another difference is that the vegetables are a lot crisper, as the curries are cooked quickly in very hot woks, which also impart a nice ‘bbq-ey’ flavour to the meat.

It’s a similar story with the stir fries, which are available with a number of ‘flavourings’ such as as chilli & basil and satay. The serving sizes of the stir fries are particularly generous, and come with a lot of vegetables.

The satays are recommended, although they’re deep fried, and the salads are a great palate cleanser. As with a lot of Asian cuisine, it’s best suited to sharing multiple dishes.

Unless you’ve got a very large appetite you shouldn’t require more than 1 dish per person, meaning, with rice, you shouldn’t need to spend more than $13 – $14 each. The fact that it’s BYO makes it even more affordable. Take away is also available, although the serving are smaller.

See also: MamaNee Thai Restaurant

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Posted in Brunswick East, Thai | 3 Comments »