Located on the Parade, Danny’s Thai Bistro offers all your traditional Thai dishes. The decor is modern with framed newspaper cutouts on one section of the wall to indicate how good this place is. The staff were friendly and inviting, however the service was quite slow, particularly during busy periods.

Tonight, a group of us ordered the banquet. This consisted of two entrees (Spring Rolls and Satay Chicken) and four main courses (Pad Thai, Chilli Beef, Basil Chicken and Massaman Lamb Curry). The cost of a main course and rice would have been similar to the cost of the cheaper banquet, and in order to try more things on the menu, we felt the banquet represented better value for money. A waitress informed us that the main courses were unlimited so our decision to go for the banquet was the correct one.

The entrees arrived after a 45 minute wait. The group was starving and we felt this was a bit long. The chicken was well marinated, tender and succulent. The satay sauce itself was pretty good as it was thick and full of crushed up peanuts. The spring rolls were freshly fried and the filling was full of flavour.

Not long after, the main courses arrived. The Pad Thai was OK although I felt the noodles were a bit undercooked. The Massaman Lamb was the probably the worst I’ve ever had. While the lamb was lean, tender and perfectly cooked, the curry itself was watery and the taste was quite bland. The potatoes in the curry seemed as though they had just been thrown in at the last minute as the sauce had not fused in properly. The Chilli Beef and Basil Chicken were good as the vegetables used were fresh and cooked sufficiently enough to still be crunchy. The sauces were delicious and full of flavour in both the latter dishes.

Compared to all the Thai restaurants I’ve been to, I didn’t think this place was that great. The service was poor and the quality of the dishes ranged from being ordinary to good. Would I go back to this place? Not even if you dragged me there!

WHERE: 123 The Parade, Norwood