Finding a relatively nice place for a birthday dinner around Footscray was actually quite difficult. There seems to be a couple of token Italian and Singaporean restaurants, some nicer looking Vietnamese places and a smokehouse I recently saw, but the choice is not nearly as much as what I'm used to around Abbotsford.
Thonglor Thai is a relatively expensive but nice looking Thai restaurant at Edgewater, which unusually divides its menu into different Thai regions. It actually makes ordering decisions a little difficult, but I suppose if you wanted to theme your dinner to one Thai region then it would help.
- Eggplant Salad (grilled eggplant, pork mince, prawns, boiled egg) $27;
- Deep fried whole barramundi (mixed herb sauce) $37 - excellent quality fish cooked well and topped with herbs;
- Larb Duck $27 - shredded duck with herbs and the occasional hit of chilli;
- Dessert of delicious coconut icecream, sweet potato and tapioca balls with a warm coconut milk syrup.
No photo:
- Khua Kling Nuer (stirfried beef mince with homemade chilli paste, lime & lemongrass) $23.90 - I thought it was a little bland and found out that they intentionally reduced the amount of chilli paste (so as to not make it too hot, even though we asked for it to be made at normal strength) and therefore the flavour was reduced;
- Beef Massaman Curry (with coconut milk, potatoes & peanuts) $19.9 - mild creamy curry;
- Roti with peanut sauce $8 - standard;
- Coconut rice $3.9 per person - a bit expensive to pay $20 for rice but it was good quality at least.
The food is good, the flavours are nice, and my only criticism (other than the high cost) is that the first three dishes all had very very similar dressings - fish sauce, sugar, lime. I didn't get the chance to order my standard setters of tom kha or red curry duck, but I'll be sure to try those next time and see.