When I lived in London I was seriously addicted to Indian curries. It makes sense I suppose, London is home to the famous Brick Lane where curry house after curry house has a spruiker* stationed outside trying to entice you in to their restaurant instead of one of the other fifty. Since being back in Australia, I haven't had Indian once but another Asian cuisine seems to have taken its place: Thai.
One of my best friends has been raving about a restaurant in Hobart's popular Salamanca Place for the past few months and last week we finally ended up going there together. Suwan is tucked away upstairs in the arcade near the delectable Norman and Dann chocolate shop. An unassuming sandwich board sign is the only thing on the street front to draw attention to Suwan, but it is well worth a visit.
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| Photo from Suwan's Facebook page |
The restaurant is unpretentious, reasonably priced and serves up fantastic Thai food. I've now been there twice (both visits within one week) and couldn't bring myself to try something different the second time because the green curry was just so good. You can choose your meats or have prawns for an extra $2 and I asked for mild because apparently the hot is very hot.
Despite not being adventurous with my own meal, I did try my friends' and all of theirs were also very tasty. The pad thai is good and the cashew and beef stir fry was so good it almost made me forget I don't even like beef. Apart from the cheaper pad thai, each main is about $18. Rice is separate: $3.50 for jasmine and $4 for coconut (get the jasmine if you're having anything but a curry, if you are having curry definitely get the coconut - it is sensational).
The meals come out incredibly fast for how good they taste, and the service is good. Bottles of water are replaced as soon as there's less than a glassful left and they also offer BYO. Takeaway is also an option, and judging by the number of people coming in for it last night, it's a popular one.
Another good place for Thai is on the other side of the river. Lime and Lemongrass in Bellerive Quay has been around for longer and I've been going there for years. They also do eat-in and takeaway. The food isn't quite as good as Suwan, but it is a few dollars cheaper. My family of five had it on Sunday and a hundred bucks got us a main each, a taste plate entree for 4 and a cheap bottle of wine from the shop down the road.
Lime and Lemongrass is more 'cute Thai' than Suwan: the rice comes out in a star shape, the menu is filled with sentences like "spicy & our with vegies" to describe their tom yum and yellow smiley faces label the popular choices.
I had the Thai peanut satay stir fry on the weekend and it was delicious. There were heaps of brightly coloured veggies, really nice chicken breast chunks and the sauce was so good I wanted more. There was also enough left over for a small lunch the next day and all that for $15.50.
*I just discovered that the word spruik is Australian. Who knew. For those who've never heard it, here's the definition from the wonderful Wiktionary:
The meals come out incredibly fast for how good they taste, and the service is good. Bottles of water are replaced as soon as there's less than a glassful left and they also offer BYO. Takeaway is also an option, and judging by the number of people coming in for it last night, it's a popular one.
Another good place for Thai is on the other side of the river. Lime and Lemongrass in Bellerive Quay has been around for longer and I've been going there for years. They also do eat-in and takeaway. The food isn't quite as good as Suwan, but it is a few dollars cheaper. My family of five had it on Sunday and a hundred bucks got us a main each, a taste plate entree for 4 and a cheap bottle of wine from the shop down the road.
Lime and Lemongrass is more 'cute Thai' than Suwan: the rice comes out in a star shape, the menu is filled with sentences like "spicy & our with vegies" to describe their tom yum and yellow smiley faces label the popular choices.
I had the Thai peanut satay stir fry on the weekend and it was delicious. There were heaps of brightly coloured veggies, really nice chicken breast chunks and the sauce was so good I wanted more. There was also enough left over for a small lunch the next day and all that for $15.50.
*I just discovered that the word spruik is Australian. Who knew. For those who've never heard it, here's the definition from the wonderful Wiktionary:
(transitive, Australian) To promote a thing or idea to another person, in order that they buy the thing, or accept the idea
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