Thai Riffic on street - Parramatta, NSW

If you follow me on instagram, you'll notice that I've been eating out at places without posting about it here. What's going on? Living with someone else (and taking care of an apartment) has simply meant that I've had less and less time to sit down and put pen to paper (so to speak). But now that I'm back in Australia, I plan to post as frequently as I can to try and catch up cause we've got some good things coming soon!

As many of you know, I've since moved from the southern side of Sydney to the west and I've become a proud and happy resident of Parramatta. Where we live, we're never too far from really, really good food which is absolutely amazing! One of the places that we've been lucky enough to try in recent days is Thairiffic on the street. Located underneath the Westfield cinemas, this conveniently located restaurant (which is a part of a larger chain of Thai Riffic eateries) offers the usual fragrant, delicious Thai fare but also brings many street eats to the west.

The Mrs and I popped in for lunch one afternoon after not being able the decide on what to eat (trust me, the abundant choices in Parramatta can get debilitating). After being seated, we skimmed over the menu and noticed quite a few dishes that you don't regularly find in Thai eateries around the area. So, we quickly placed our order and waited patiently for it our opportunity to sample the delicacies.

I ordered one of my favourite Thai street food items: guay teaw neua toon which is a rich and deep flavoured beef broth served with beef balls, thin rice noodles and tender chunks of braised beef. If you like pho, you'll definitely like this soup noodle as the flavour profiles are really similar: you have the aniseed from the cloves and star anise and the herbaceous aromatic smell of coriander. The springy beef balls provide that texturally pleasant meaty element which is furthered by the big, chunks of fall apart beef. It is significantly sweeter than Pho but you'll learn to relish this sweetness as you hastily slurp those thin strands of rice noodles.

The Mrs ordered the khao mun goong ob mor din which was a claypot rice of sorts with rice stir-fried in a spicy shrimp sauce and served with plump, juicy prawns, fish roe and an onsen egg. Be warned: when they say spicy, they mean spicy. Each grain of rice is coated in this moreish, fiery sauce which made my tongue tingle with joy. This dish isn't particularly generous with the prawns but they do give you really big ones that are cooked to perfection. This dish was also way too spicy for the Mrs so she had to switch with me.

She didn't really like my dish all too much either (too sweet for her) so for compensation, she ordered an extra order of barbecued ox tongue. The ox tongue was grilled really well and took on a charred, crispy exterior...really highlighting the rich, fatty meat but texturally speaking, this was one of the chewier ones I've eaten. Still, they do the dipping sauce really well here so it was a delight to dip the ox tongue in the sweet and savoury sauce.

Again, our apologies for not having updated the blog in a while but we've been kinda busy (really, we have!) and as we go out and explore all that this wonderful area has to offer, I'll be sure to double my efforts and post as frequently as I can to catch up! Stay tuned!

Boon Cafe at Jarern Chai Asian Grocer - Central, NSW

Lately, the Mrs and I have been getting busier as we come up to the end of the year. If I haven't mentioned already, we're trying to plan and organise a relatively large event so our weeknights/ends have been taken up by planning, meetings and generally being super-exhausted. I'd like to apologise to the Mrs here and admit that in the midst of being stressed and generally feeling useless/not helpful, I've kinda neglected to acknowledge how wonderful she is and how much I love her. Luckily, the Mrs and I still managed to find the time to squeeze in a quick date night at a place she's been wanting to try for a while: Boon Cafe.

The most recent venture by the guys at Chat Thai: during the day, the menu is more cafe/brunch like but at night, the items change to more of what you'd find in the streets of Bangkok. The Mrs and I thought it'd be a nice idea to try it on a whim and we were lucky enough to grab one of the limited tables so I let the Mrs take charge and order away. We'd originally ordered the dessert to come later but maybe due to some minor miscommunications with the staff, the Pandan toast became the first to come...not a bad way to start a meal though. The toast was nice and fluffy but I'd have to say, the spread was mildly disappointing in that there wasn't a deep enough pandan flavor nor was it noticeably sweet...in my opinion, could have definitely have definitely benefitted from more sweetness/flavour.

Additionally, the Mrs had originally intended to order the Thai milk tea that she was accustomed to but had somehow ended up ordering Thai red tea which is essentially the same thing without the condensed milk. Due to that fact, the Mrs didn't enjoy it too much initially but I definitely did, the spiciness of the drink helped cool me down after a long day and regardless of what she had originally expected, the Mrs still grew to like the drink after a couple of sips. 

Soon after, our first hot dish came and boy, were we excited to dig in. The Mrs ordered a half order of the Gai Yang which is Thai style grilled chicken. The chicken here is marinaded really well and rather flavoursome which is good though the Mrs did say it was less juicy than another restaurant we frequent. I think it was an issue with the pieces she picked because each piece I picked was juicy and tender. It could have been a bit more charred but overall, very enjoyable. 

Next came the grilled sausages which was personally, my favorite. I love sausages from all cultures and cuisines and this one was very representative of the flavour profiles you'd find in Thailand. Intense and mouth-numbingly spicy, we identified some elements of chilli, ginger and potentially lemongrass mixed in with the meat. If you'd ordered this, be warned: have a glass of milky, sweet beverage ready as this dish is as authentic as it comes. It's so addictively spicy that the Mrs had to stop part-way and recuperate before she could continued eating it.

Shortly after our grilled sausage arrived, the beef salad also arrived at our table. At this point of the dinner, our mouths were burning from the sausages so it was a welcome and refreshing change of pace. The salad was still packed it's own punch but not nearly as intensely as the sausage did. The green leaves, onions and sweet dressing really helped calm our palates allowing us to enjoy the tender pieces of beef strewn throughout the salad.

Our meal was rounded off by the carbs that came last. At $5 a bowl, the Mrs thought it appropriate to order to separate bowls of noodles (one for me and one for her). I got the spicier Thai styles noodles which was great because I was used to eating similar noodles from Do Dee Pai Dang noodle cafe. Cheap and satisfying, you didn't get to choose the level of spice but for that price, you really wouldn't mind. I have to say, I really enjoyed the rice noodles they used a little more than the glass noodles I normally have at Do Dee and the soup I think was more sour and appetising than I was used to which was great.

The Mrs got the bowl of Thai style egg noodles which she seemed to relish because the sweet and savoury broth offered a much needed reprieve from the flames burning in her mouth. I didn't get to eat much of it but I assumed since the Mrs demolished most of it that it was delicious. From the small amount that I did get to have, the flavor reminded me most of the tiny microwavable bowls of wonton noodles you can get from Costco. 

Reminiscent of our current lives and schedules, the dinner was a bit of a mess at the beginning but regardless, what mattered most to me was that I was able to sit down and have a nice, enjoyable meal with my beloved. Super sappy of me to say but I truly believe that no matter what life throws at me, as long as the Mrs and I have each other, we'll be fine and happy no matter what life throws at us. 

From the bottom of my heart: Thank you for everything that you've done for me and for us. We wouldn't come as far as we have and I definitely wouldn't be who I am today without your constant support, patience and guidance. I'm so excited for the future we share together and for the many meals and laughs we'll have in the future.

Love you always, turtle.