Sunday 25 August 2013

Thai Culinary

433 Elizabeth St 
Melbourne, VIC
3000

Sparing you all my oft-rehashed rant on limp-wristed Thai food in Melbourne, I’ll get straight to Thai Culinary, a small eatery on Elizabeth Street and neighbour to one of my all-time favourites, Rose Garden


The first impressions weren’t good. Well the first-first impression was fine; the interior was bright and clean, with some vaguely cultural paintings hung at intervals along the wall. But the second-first impression was terrible, when we found ourselves completely ignored by the wait staff, and had to sit ourselves down. It was another 10 minutes before we were finally acknowledged.


Thai Fried Rice with Chicken ($11)

I ordered the Thai Fried Rice with Chicken ($11), wanting something familiar over an adventure. I would probably rate this fried rice at slightly above par – there was nothing remarkable about it at all, but it had a good smokiness from the wok, and the chicken was very lean. However I couldn’t work out for the life of me what made it Thai. 


Fried Chicken Spare Rib ($10)

Proving that deep-frying will always end well, Chris’ Fried Spicy Chicken Spare Rib ($10) was a delight. The coating was a much more Thai-like blend of spicy, sweet and tangy, and the crunchy skin hid some very, very juicy chicken.

All in all, I’d be thoroughly unimpressed if it weren’t for the fantastic chicken ribs. The fried rice was pleasant but very un-Thai, and the wait staff’s attitudes were absolutely shocking. Thank goodness for deep fryers.

Rating: 11.5/20 – redeeming chicken ribs.
This rating reflects my personal experience at the time of visit. And the amount of curry I ate in Japan. 

Thai Culinary on Urbanspoon

4 comments:

  1. I work just around the corner from there.. and I must say, their fried rice is soooo full of MSG and oil! But it tasted good even though I suffered later and having to drink heaps of water later. haa

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    1. Haha it's the MSG and the oil making it taste good! You're so lucky to be working in the CBD; I'll be working just outside of the CBD next year so no lunch break blogging for me I'm afraid :(

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  2. A shame this place didn't have great service - that makes all the difference to a restaurant visit I find. At least you were able to get one tasty dish out of your visit!

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    1. Hi Christine, thanks for dropping by! As terrible as this sounds, I'm almost inclined to dislike restaurants with atrocious service out of spite! :p In all seriousness though, I agree that service makes a huge difference to how I feel about a restaurant, but when service fails there's always fried chicken!

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