Rice Paddy

I go out of my way to support neighbourhood restaurants, so after seeing a few ads for the Rice Paddy in our local newspaper, we popped in for dinner on the weekend.

The Rice Paddy is in a fairly innocuous block of shops on South Pine Road at Everton Park. If you didn't know it was there, you'd probably drive right past it - luckily we were looking out for it. The main reason I wanted to visit was because there were dishes on the menu that were different from the regulars you usually come across at suburban Thai restaurants around Brisbane.

We arrived to be greeted by a couple of friendly staff, who showed us to our table. We were offered menus straight away, and two glasses of water were brought to the table. A wine cooler was brought out in a stand next to the table, with plenty of ice, and two glasses of wine were poured. By this stage, we felt very welcome.

The entrees didn't jump off the menu at me, so I ordered satay chicken, my favourite Thai starter. Other entree choices include vegetarian spring rolls, golden bags (rice pastry filled with stir fried chicken, coconut, corn & oyster sauce), fish cakes and Thai dippings (roti pastry served with chilli jam and satay sauce).

When I saw the size of my four satay chicken skewers, I was very concerned about how I would ever finish my main course. They were four very generous satay skewers, with plenty of chicken. Although a couple of bits of the chicken were a little gristly, they were otherwise tender, properly cooked and covered in plenty of Thai peanut sauce. Even though I didn't need to eat them all, they disappeared off the plate.

We also ordered a serve of the crispy tofu. These were little squares of tofu that had been deep fried and served with a peanut chilli sauce. When this dish arrived at the table it was obvious that it had only just come out of the deep fryer. The outside of the tofu was beautifully crisp, while the inside was still delicate and soft - they'd been perfectly cooked. I've had some great tofu dishes recently and this is another very impressive one (they were also great to dip into my satay sauce).

If none of the entrees are your bag, order a soup instead - tom yum (lemongrass, mushroom, kaffir lime leaves, lime juice and chilli) or tom kha (coconut cream with lemon juice, mushroom, galangal and chilli). Each of the soups can be served with chicken, king prawns, seafood or vegetable & tofu.

Main course is where the menu gets more interesting. I went straight to the house specials, which include stir fried fish with ginger, duck garden, chicken kaffir lime leaves, king prawns tamarind, king prawns clay pot (sauteed king prawns with glass noodles, fresh ginger, black peppercorn and sesame sauce) and crying tiger (BBQ beef marinated with Thai herbs & oyster sauce, served with crushed roasted rice and spicy & sour sauce).

There were also some eye catching salads, like the lime pork salad (spicy pork cooked in lime sauce mixed with fresh vegetables), Rice Paddy golden salad (fresh salad greens with tofu and boiled egg served with peanut sauce and crispy sweet potato) and the prawn salad (cooked fresh prawns with lemon juice, fresh herbs and seasoned with chilli & lime dressing). I'll have to go back for the salads.

As much as I loved the sound of the crying tiger and the salads, I opted for the duck garden, thinking it might be presented in some very impressive fashion. Although there was no magical presentation, no-one would be disappointed by the size of the serving - it was huge. Unlike some duck dishes at Asian restaurants, this one was full of tender duck pieces. There were also plenty of vegetables - zucchini, broccoli, mushrooms, carrot, sweetcorn, celery and cauliflower. While there was a distinct sesame flavour to the sauce, it didn't overpower the duck. A good (but not great) dish.

My wife ordered the stir fried vegetable & tofu with basil and chilli. As soon as it hit the table I could smell the amazing aromas of Thai basil. I only had a quick taste, but it was a lovely dish. The sauce was excellent - a bit of chilli kick complemented by the fragrant Thai basil. Plenty of vegetables and some more well-cooked tofu rounded off a delicious dish.

There are numerous other main courses, many of which you will find at your local suburban Thai restaurant - red, green, panang, massaman, yellow and chu chee curries, together with ten or so stir fry dishes. Most of main courses can be prepared with tofu and vegetables, so there are loads of options for non-meat eaters.

We both had so much of our main courses left that we asked for a couple of take away containers, not wanting to waste the food. The staff happily obliged and packaged them up with the coconut rice we didn't manage to eat either.

Service was terrific and friendly throughout the night. Our waitress happily re-filled my wine glass continually (which is almost unheard of at a BYO restaurant) and we were never short of water on the table. There was a good, comfortable space between courses, which we really needed because of the amount of food. All up our dinner was $55 (which included a Thai style iced tea), so it was a great value meal.

Although I wouldn't say the Rice Paddy is the best Thai food I've ever had, its a solid suburban Thai restaurant that I'll happily return to, so I can explore the rest of the menu.

What does all this mean? Well priced, tasty Thai food with very friendly service. Worth a visit to try interesting Thai dishes you don't often see around Brisbane.

food bling ratings
Food - Good
Service - Great
Ambience - Casual suburban restaurant, with Thai decorations
Value for Money - Great
Wine - BYO
Vegetarian - Great

Rice Paddy
Shop 5, 544 South Pine Road
Everton Park 4058
P - 07 3162 5219

Red Hot Thai

Red Hot Thai at Kingscliff is one of those restaurants that always seems to be busy. Usually that's a good indication of the food quality, and its certainly the case here.

Although Red Hot Thai covers the usual Thai suspects, there are also a few dishes that you don't always come across on your standard Thai menu. Their starters include crab and chicken steamed dumplings ($8.50), deep fried spicy fish cakes served with sweet chilli or plum sauce ($8.50) and spring rolls ($8.50).

I ordered the satay gai to get the evening going - chicken marinated in Thai herbs, served with peanut sauce ($8.50). I really am a sucker for Thai chicken satays and these ones were great. Over the years I've come across a lot of chicken satays where the chicken was so overcooked that the resulting satays were chewy and tasteless. These, on the other hand, were tender, covered in herbs and had a lovely delicate flavour. They were delicious, served with both a mild peanut sauce and a tangy, clear Thai sauce. They were quickly demolished.

We also ordered a serve of the pak tod for entree - fresh vegetables in tempura batter, served with sweet tamarind and ginger sauce ($8.50). Again these were great - fresh cauliflower, broccoli, beans, mushrooms, capsicum, zucchini and shallots fried in a light, crunchy tempura batter. The tangy sauce was also a winner. Admittedly these were more Japanese than Thai, but they were fresh and tasty.

When it comes to mains, the menu covers curries, soup, salads, seafood, stir fries and noodles. Some of the salads sounded particularly tempting - like the yum nua (char grilled beef with fresh lemongrass, lime juice, coriander and chilli) and the larb gai (spicy minced chicken, Thai herbs, lime juice and ground roasted rice).

We were at the beach, so I went for the gang penang prawn curry ($22) as a main course. This was a creamy red coconut milk curry, which was served with broccoli, carrot, fresh kaffir lime leaves and roasted peanuts. It was a beautiful dish, in the fragrant, lighter style of Thai curries. There was a generous amount of prawns in the dish and the sauce was so good I ended up dunking loads of rice into the bowl to soak up all the delicious flavours.

We also had the vegetarian Red Hot Thai noodles as a main - wok fried egg noodles with tofu, chilli, shallot and basil ($15.50). Although there were plenty of fresh, crunchy vegetables in this dish, it was a bit bland, and could have done with a bit more of a flavour kick. There were a few red chilli bits through the noodles, but not enough to really give them a distinctive taste.

Red Hot Thai is both licenced and BYO. Corkage is $2.50 per person if you do take your own wine. Although we had to ask about 3 separate waiters for a wine cooler and some glasses at the start of the night, after that small hiccup the service was good. Red Hot Thai does get very busy during school holidays and on weekends, so it's always a good idea to book ahead.

What does all this mean? Well priced, tasty Thai food in a relaxed, friendly setting.

food bling ratings
Food - Great
Service - Good
Ambience - Relaxed indoor & outdoor seating
Value for Money - Good
Wine - Licenced & BYO
Vegetarian - Great

Red Hot Thai
80 Marine Parade
Kingscliff NSW 2487
P - 02 6674 5299

Chinese New Year at Huongs

We had a great Chinese New Year dinner at Huongs on the weekend.

I'm normally dead against ordering any kind of banquet for dinner, but in plenty of Chinese restaurants on the weekend, that was the only option, given they were all going to be packed.

For entrees we had spring rolls and some very tasty, crunchy san choy bow.

Mains spanned Chinese and Thai food, but were delicious - garlic king prawns, chicken massaman curry, salt & pepper calamari, duck with basil sauce and sweet & sour pork. The prawns, chicken and duck were my pick of the dishes as we struggled to finish them all.

Not only was the food great, but there were two Chinese dragons which danced around the room after the mains were served, while a couple of drums beat away.

Even though the restaurant was full, service through the night was quick and friendly. All this for $32 made it a great, fun night out. I've already done a post on Huongs which you can read if you're keen to find out more about the restaurant.

Huongs
83A Vulture Street
West End 4101
P - 07 3844 6701

Thai Wi Rat

I have been meaning to make it along to Thai Wi Rat for ages. Its considered by many to serve the most authentic Thai food in Brisbane.

Thai Wi Rat is in the Chinatown Mall in the Valley. It has seating both inside and out in the mall.

We arrived at 7.30 on a Friday night, and it was pretty busy. We had booked a table outside, but it was pretty hard to grab a free waiter to be seated. So we just joined the line up at the front counter. At Thai Wi Rat, you line up and place your order at the counter. Eventually we got to the front of the line and were seated at our table outside. It was worth booking though, because we ended up at the only table with a tablecloth and place setting, which is a nice touch.

The menu here is a fair bit longer than most Thai restaurants in Brisbane. It also has a few Laotian dishes, which you probably won't find anywhere else in Brisbane. The menu covers soup, "special dishes", grilled dishes, Thai style salads, uncooked salads, Laos style salads, stir fries, curries, single dishes (ie with rice), stir fried noodles and noodle soups. With all those options, it will take you a little while to decide. Everything is priced very well - the most expensive thing on the menu is the Surin set for $22.90, but most other main dishes are between $9.90 and $14.90.

Despite the otherwise extensive menu, the entree selection is a bit limited, so I went for the chicken satays ($6.90 for 4). These were good, as was the satay sauce. The thing with chicken satays though is that they are very rarely bad. They're usually pretty tasty, and even if the chicken isn't the best, you can usually smother them with sauce until they are great.

We also had a vegetarian tom yum soup ($6.90). This was ok, but lacked the real spicy and sour tanginess of a great tom yum. It did have plenty of fresh vegetables in it though.

Unfortunately, there was a very long wait until our starters came out. We sat at our table for an hour before even the tom yum soup came out. Not only did the tom yum come out then, but so did the panang curry, one of our main courses, together with the sticky rice we had also ordered for main course. We told the waiter that the panang curry was a main course, but she didn't seem the slightest bit concerned and it just stayed on the table. The next thing that came out was my entree. So the panang curry and rice sat on our table, cooling down all the time while we ate our entrees. Luckily it was a typically warm Brisbane summer night.

When you get to mains, there are plenty to choose from. Some of the more interesting dishes are grilled whole Thai catfish served with Thai E-san sauce ($14.90), grilled Laos style pork sausage ($9.90), steamed boneless chicken feet Thai salad ($13.90), duck mince Laos style salad ($13.90) and the great sounding cracking pork on rice ($9.90). There really is a huge selection of mains. The menu also has plenty of pictures just in case you're not sure what the dish you're thinking about might actually look like.

Given the great selection, I decided to try something new, and went with the pork guay teaw lard na or Thai gravy sauce ($9.90). This dish had plenty of fresh vegetables, flat rice noodles and was served in a fairly thick, Thai gravy. It was tasty enough, but not spectactular.

We also had the vegetable panang curry ($9.90) as I mentioned above. This contained pretty much the same fresh vegetables as the tom yum sauce. It was in the more fragrant, rather than richer, style of Thai curries and was good, but again not fantastic.

With mains, you also have a selection of steamed jasmine rice or sticky rice. We ordered some of the sticky rice, which comes out in great thatched kind of container. It is very sticky stuff, and needs a bit of sauce on it to break it up. Still, it made a good change from the plain steamed rice we usually order.

The most disappointing part of the night however was the service. Waiting an hour for 4 chicken satay sticks and a small bowl of tom yum soup is a bit over the top. Our bottle of white wine also sat on the table for the night without a cooler. Maybe we just picked the wrong time of the week to go, but service could definitely be improved.

Thai Wi Rat is both licenced and BYO. They have a good selection of beers, including Singha, but the wine choice is pretty limited. If you are after a bottle of wine with your Thai, then its probably a good idea to bring it along yourself.

It's also excellent value. Our dinner was $38, for two entrees, two mains, rice and a soft drink. The servings are pretty generous for the price as well.

Overall, the food at Thai Wi Rat was good, but not exceptional. Maybe I was expecting too much, given all that I'd read about it. I'll certainly be going back to give it another try, as there are plenty of dishes on the menu I've never come across before. Next time, we'll head back with plenty of friends, so we can get a good cross-section of the menu.

What does all this mean? A great selection of interesting Thai and Laotian food at excellent prices, but the service needs improving.

food bling ratings
Food - Good
Service - Poor
Ambience - Relaxed outdoor seating
Value for money - Top Shelf
Wine - Very limited selection
Vegetarian - Great

Thai Wi Rat
Shop 48, Duncan Street
China Town Mall
Fortitude Valley 4006
P - 07 3257 0884

Huong's

Huong's has been in West End for ages and serves my favourite Vietnamese food in Brisbane. I've probably eaten here more times than in any other Brisbane restaurant. It doesn't look much from the street, but once you walk up the narrow stairs to the first floor, you'll find some great Vietnamese, Thai and Chinese food.

The decor is tidy and is a step above many suburban Asian eateries. Service has improved over the years and is now friendly and usually quick. Huong's is popular with a younger crowd, and there's usually some decent music playing in the background.

Although their Vietnamese food is great, there is only a limited selection, because the menu also covers Thai and Chinese.

On this trip, we started off with two serves of the san choy bow ($5 per serve). I love this and order it almost every time. It usually comes out about 2 minutes after ordering. The san choy bow is tasty, with a great crunchiness from the lettuce leaf in which it is served. I could eat these all night.

We also had one of the rice noodle salads with fried tofu ($9.50) which is a fantastic salad. Other than the rice noodles, this salad is served with carrot, cucumber, mint, beansprouts and lettuce. Once you pour the dressing over the top, this is a clean, crunchy and tasty salad. In my book, it's the perfect Brisbane meal.

When it came to mains, I also had a rice noodle salad with pork balls ($9.50). All of the rice noodle salads are essentially the same, just with different toppings. Other than the tofu and pork balls, you can also order spring rolls, pork chop, lemon grass beef or sugarcane prawns with your salad. I would have to say that the pork balls weren't the greatest, and certainly not as tasty as the lemongrass beef which I usually order. Anyway the salad itself was terrific as usual.

Our other main course was the pad kapoa, or Thai stir fried tofu with green beans, bamboo shoots, fresh chilli and sweet basil ($14). This was tasty and fresh but had a real chilli kick.

If you are looking for other Vietnamese options, there is a good range of soups, a selection of make your own rice paper rolls (which are delicious) and a few chef's specialties. Almost all of the Vietnamese dishes are around the $10 mark or less, which makes them excellent value.

If Vietnamese isn't your favourite, then there are also Thai soups, curries, stir fries, noodles and salads. On previous visits I've found the Thai curries to be particularly good. And finally there are also Chinese dishes to round out a fairly wide-ranging menu.

Huong's is BYO and there are a number of bottle shops nearby. If you are looking for something that's non-alcoholic, try one of their iced teas, which are delicious.

For me, Huong's strength is its Vietnamese food, which has proved over the years to be clean, fresh and tasty. It's also exceptionally good value - you can have a Vietnamese entree and main course for less than $20. Huong's is definitely worth seeking out on your next visit to West End.

What does all this mean? Excellent, clean Vietnamese food at rock-bottom prices, with plenty of Thai and Chinese options.

food bling ratings
Food - Great
Service - Good
Ambience - Fairly traditional Asian surroundings
Value for Money - Top Shelf
Wine - BYO
Vegetarian - Great

Huong's
83A Vulture Street
West End 4101
P - 07 3844 6701

Satay Hut

Satay Hut is one of the newer eateries on Little Stanley Street at Southbank. It was set up by the owner and chef of Ginga, Patrick Ip.

We checked out the menu for Satay Hut on a stroll around Southbank one day and thought we should head back for dinner. We eventually made it back here for a quick pre-opera dinner. The place looks pretty impressive from the street, and you can either sit either inside or in their fairly large outside dining area.

The main reason we wanted to try Satay Hut was because of the menu, which has quite a few dishes that you don't see very often. The menu has pictures of many of the dishes, and also has a chilli rating system to give you an idea of how hot to expect the food.

Anyway I wimped out in the adventurous stakes for entree and instead went for one of my favourite starters, chicken satay sticks with rice cakes ($9.90). These were served with cucumber and peanut satay sauce. They weren't the best satay sticks I've ever had, but were fine nevertheless. I hadn't tried the rice cakes before, which were basically a little blob of sticky rice (which tasted better than my description of them). The sauce was good, and got completely cleaned up between the rice cakes and the chicken satays. The rice cakes make this a fairly filling starter.

We also had the vegetarian spring rolls ($6.90) for entree, which are described on the menu as containing cabbage, onion, carrots, mushroom and bamboo shoots, served with plum & sweet chilli dip. I didn't try one of these, as I was too busy munching away on my satay sticks, but I'm told they were fresh and very tasty. The plum & sweet chilli dipping sauce wasn't as tasty as the satay sauce. Needless to say, there was no satay sauce left.

A number of the other entrees were usual suspects, such as prawn spring rolls ($9.90), Thai fish cakes ($6.90), yum cha platter ($24.90 for 2) or you could go for the Malaysian style fried tofu ($7.90) if you're looking for a vegetarian option. There are also a few soups if you're in need of something to slurp all over your shirt to kick off the night.

On to mains. This is where the menu gets interesting - it's a pretty wide ranging one, covering Indonesian, Malaysian, Singaporean and Thai food. Dishes that caught my eye were the sambal stir fry (chicken $16.90, fish $17.90 or prawn $24.90), seafood bird nest ($29.90), coconut seafood bake ($29.90), scallop with tofu ($18.90 - the picture of this looked really good) and the kapitan chicken rice ($18.90).

Anyway, we were in a hurry, so I had to decide and went for the beef nasi lemak ($19.90). Wikipedia calls this the "unofficial national dish of Malaysia". Apparently it's a breakfast dish in Malaysia. The main reason I picked it was because it was a platter, and was the best way of trying a few new meals all in one go. The plate consisted of some Malaysian beef curry, hard boiled egg, ikan belis (dried anchovies), kacang (salted peanuts), achar (pickled vegetables) and coconut rice. Although the curry itself wasn't mind blowing, the combination of all the small dishes was great (although I don't know if anyone could eat all the anchovies). The coconut rice was also delicious. It turned out to be a good choice.

We also had the tofu with satay sauce and cashew nuts ($9.90). This was a bargain and was very good. It was little rounds of silken tofu with some tasty satay sauce. Once again, we couldn't get enough of the satay sauce, which is addictive stuff.

There is a compact, reasonably priced wine list, and you should be able to find something to accompany whatever takes your fancy off the menu.

We only had a limited time at Satay Hut, and the staff were excellent in making sure that all the food came out quickly, so we could head off to the opera.

All up, Satay Hut is a welcome addition to the eateries at South Bank. It's not the cheapest Asian food in town, but its comparably priced with many of the places along Little Stanley Street, and is by no means expensive. Satay Hut is definitely worth a try, especially if you're looking for a few dishes you might not have seen before.

What does all this mean? An interesting range of Asian food at decent prices, with loads of options to keep everyone happy.

food bling ratings
Food - Good
Service - Great
Ambience - Impressive modern Asian surroundings
Value for Money - Good
Wine - OK
Vegetarian - Good

Satay Hut
Shop 3, Little Stanley Street
Southbank 4101
P - 07 3846 6600
W - http://www.satayhut.com.au/