Food adventures in Melbourne and wherever the tummy goes
There’s a new bad boy in town and they’re a little bit fancy and oh so authentic. Newly opened, The Wanderer Thai Bar and Kitchen has a very welcoming vibe with a fully stocked bar. It could be for a first date (or 5th or 6th date), catch up with friends after work drinkies, it could be basically for anything and you know that this is the place to be.
On Malvern Road in South Yarra sits a new Thai restaurant that pumps 90s R&B and pop music with neon lights on the inside and outside of the restaurant. Inside is a casual setting which reminds me of Thailand (it’s the neon lights I say!) and the staff are so welcoming. Plenty of seats, plenty of drinkies and of course plenty of food!
Thonglor Thai has been around for ages and is right near edgewater near Highpoint. The carpark at the front is always super busy so your best bet is to park across the road where Aldi is and walk over. They also take reservations and it does get busy so make sure you make a booking and this is a bit fancier than your normal Thai restaurant so it is a touch pricier. The staff are super duper friendly and are very attentive and will serve you with a smile on their faces.
Needing a fast lunch before we meet some customers, my work colleague pulled me into Thai Concept for some fast and greasy Thai food. Walking in, we were greeted by friendly smiles and it was a small eatery but enough for a take-away joint. We got seated and put our order through.
The traveling couple had given us a voucher to Gingerboy (been totes wanting to try this out) for our engagement and we decided to cash it in because, well, it was going to expire soon. I’ve been wanting to check this place out for a while and now there wasn’t an excuse as to why we couldn’t go. Gingerboy, as expected is located in a lane way and when you step inside, you’re greeted by smiling faces. We got to our table, got our game face on and waited for the food to come out.
Mr Italian Stallion suggested a catch up at Chin Chin and who am I to refuse him a delish meal. We turned up ASAP since we knew you’d have to wait a gazillion years before getting a table since Chin Chin only does walk in. Luckily, we got a table within 10 minutes (SCORE!).
Catch up with the girlies and this time we decided on Jinda Thai since one of the girls wanted to give it a go. We had to book it one week in advance on for a Wednesday night at 7PM. I turned up and it was of course raining (gees, thanks winter Melbourne) and Miss Panda and I rushed in while waiting for Miss Train (a story from Malaysia!).
I went here with the girlies for dinner since I’ve been hanging to come here. It’s decor is very Melbourne where it is unique and very casual scenery with the brick walls and paintings on the walls. We decided to get a few dishes to share (let’s face it, everyone loves trying different dishes) and I ended up choosing the eggnet filled with pork, prawns, peanuts and caramelised coconut. To be honest it didn’t live up to its expectations. It was fresh but the flavours were too strong. There wasn’t any balance at all.
I’ve been here a couple of times courtesy of my cousin. She’d thought I’ll love this place because 1. I love christmas lights (they are on every single day throughout the year), 2. I love dumplings and 3. IT’S CHEAP! Yes she was right! I LOVE IT ALL. Also forgot to mention that the interior is PINK (woooo!).
So we went in at 7pm on a Wednesday night (we tried to come here on Tuesdays on two different occasions and forget that they don’t open on Tuesdays….yep, happened twice) and were immediately seated. We always get the usual two dishes, xiao long bao and thai fried rice and then we go rogue for the third dish.
I have been here a couple of times and decided to come here for cheap eats and quick service. My usual dish is the green curry (LOVE!!!!) but I thought I’ll be different and try something else on the menu, Tom Yum Noodle Soup with chicken. Tom Yum soup doesn’t traditionally come with noodles of any sort but this dish came with vermicelli noodles. The soup base was very average and I think the noodles were overkill. I also got the durian smoothie (yes, some people find it stinky but I think it’s the best smell in the world!) and I quite enjoyed it.
