I’ve driven down King William Road on so many occasions and I never knew where Thailand Thai was. I knew it was in the area but I wasn’t exactly sure where. It was only recently that a friend and I were wandering down King William Street that I discovered its whereabouts.  The restaurant is tucked away on a side street behind a massage parlour.

The restaurant has a fairly extensive menu with all your traditional Thai favourites. Most places commonly order their menu by protein type, but this place goes one further by separating their seafood options. The seafood options include calamari, king prawns, crab, fish and a combination thereof, and they’re all exactly the same price.

The restaurant is long and skinny, and what you see in the picture below is pretty much the whole space. There are a few pieces of traditional artwork hung along one of the main walls, but other than that, there’s nothing too captivating. We were seated in the corner of the room at a table for two. While the table space was sufficient for the dishes we ordered, I felt unbelievably cramped as there was very little space between my chair and the corner walls.

As an entree, we ordered the Spring Rolls. The dish came out 10 minutes after ordering and was nicely presented. The spring rolls were short and thick, and looked as though they were specifically made to fit on their rectangular plates.

The spring rolls came to us piping hot as they were freshly cooked. They were well drained of oil as well as there wasn’t too much oily residue. The spring roll skin was firm and crisp, while the vegetable filling was full of flavour. While the menu indicates a sweet chilli dipping sauce, it wasn’t your typical bottled variety, but more of a watery concoction. It almost reminded me of the nouc cham Vietnamese dipping sauce.

The mains came out after we had finished the entree. I had ordered the Mussuman Beef Curry and it was nicely presented in a medium sized bowl.

The lamb was well marinated, tender and succulent, and the meat simply fell apart. The lamb was lean which indicated they were using good quality cuts of meat. The small potatoes in the curry were a disappointment. While they were well cooked, they were added recently and the curry flavours hadn’t had time to infuse into the potato. It ended up tasting like boiled potato.

The sauce on the other hand had a nice thick consistency and the flavours were just right. The addition of peanuts was a nice garnish and also added a crunchy texture to the dish.

My friend had the Basil Roasted Duck which consisted of sliced roasted duck breast, green beans, baby corn, capsicum, garlic, basil, mushroom and onion. The dish was beautifully presented with an assortment of beautiful colours coming from the vegetables.

The duck was juicy, succulent and nicely marinated. The vegetables were fresh and lightly fried in a sweet chilli sauce, however, we did experience a bit of bite from the onion which could have been cooked a bit more.

The staff were friendly, although the waitress we had was a bit too attentive at times. When my friend finished her dish, her plate was about to be cleared while I was still in the middle of my meal. What she should have done was clear the plates after everyone on the table was finished.

Tuesday nights are fairly quiet at this restaurant as we were the only people dining in. Needless to say, the ambience was quite relaxed with the mellow sounds playing in the background.

As far as pricing goes, I’d say they’re a bit more expensive than your typical Thai restaurant. Based on their location and the higher rents they would have to pay, I guess it’s understandable. The Spring Rolls we had were $8.50, while my Mussuman Beef plus Steamed Rice was $24, and my friend’s Basil Roasted Duck plus rice was $27.90. The entrees are average in price, but with the mains, I’d probably be paying around $20 (including rice) at any other Thai restaurant.

It certainly wasn’t a perfect dining experience but it was above average.

PROS:

• parking at the rear of the restaurant
• fresh quality ingredients, decent serving sizes and good food presentation

CONS:

• restaurant is small and space is a bit cramped
• a bit pricier than your usual Thai restaurant

WHERE: 5/100 King William Rd, Goodwood