Come f ly with me

Fun times at this new Thai eatery in Melbourne, writes Dan Stock

When it comes to eating Thai food in Melbourne there are two epochs: BLC and ALC. Otherwise known as Before Long Chim and After Long Chim.

In January this year David Thompson — the Bangkokbased, Sydney expat universally regarded as the world’s leading expert on Thai cooking — arrived with the fourth iteration of the street-food offshoot of his multi-awarded Nahm in Bangkok and in doing so tore a hole in our collective definition of what eating Thai truly means.

In Thompson’s world that means a flood of sweat and tears, his unapologetically authentic paean to chilli one for those who worship at the fiery altar of the Scoville scale.

In terms of heart-racing, pulse-thumping, templepounding heat, BKK — which is to Bangkok as MEL is to Tullamarine — sits firmly in the BLC camp, though that’s not to say it’s not hot right now.

For the past five years this Windsor restaurant was known as Saigon Sally, the second in a trio of alliterative restaurants including Hanoi Hannah around the corner and Tokyo Tina on Chapel St.

In a bid to make the most of both an under-utilised chef in the group and our increasingly short attention spans, the same owners (The Commune Group) retired Sally and her funky take on Vietnamese and turned their attention to the Kingdom of Siam.

Those who have been here before will notice few changes; the central bar still remains a focus for the drinks it slings and the seating it provides, though now with added backlit glass bricks that complement the feature wall of the same lit in vibrant pink. The playlist is as funky and switched on as the staff, with high tables and stools along one wall for duos, banquettes along the window and wall.

Chef Sean Judd has done time in Thompson’s Nahm kitchen, though his menu here is more in keeping with the pan-generational, toned down spice appeal of Chin Chin and Longrain, which also feature

on his CV. That experience shows through in the knifework in a cucumber relish studded with tiny, finely sliced lime segments thath bbrightenih ddried id chillies and red onion that’s the accompaniment to bouncy fish cakes that are a fine, if somewhat reticent, version of the species ($16).

It also shows in a sour orange curry with a good whack of puckering sharpness, a quartered quail branded by the grill to blushingly pink sitting atop crunchy snake beans and slightly bitter green Thai eggplants ($25).

And in a bright, light broth of young coconut and chicken, where a white pepperiness adds weight to a few meaty chicken “dumplings” ($17).

While only the crazy brave would eat a mussel pancake on the streets of Bangkok, here in these aircon-cooled surrounds you’ll find a bean-shoot heavy plate of plump mussels tossed through an omelet batter. A squirt of sriracha sauce — admirable for being housemade, notable for a lack of heat — finishes a dish that’s enjoyably at once crisp and crunchy, soft and squishy ($20).

Also from the “wok” section comes the dish of the night, a fabulous tumble of fat rolled, slightly sticky rice noodles tossed with chunks of gai lan stalks and leaves, a cracked egg chopped through. Sweet soy binds the lot that’s finished with aniseed-y aniseed- y Thai basil and crushed peanuts. It’s utterly delicious ($18).

So, too, an early signature — ribbonsibb off pork,k brushedbhd with ih condensed milk and rendered charry and chewy on the grill. These three skewers come into their own once dunked into the soy/fish sauce that’s amped with a lingering, tingling field of white pepper ($16).

At first blush — with individual dishes that rarely break $30 and most hovering in the early $20s — this is accessibly priced cheerful fun, but after a couple of drinks our bill was $80 a head. That’s a lot for a casual catch-up type of place, and would likely end up a lot more if you gave the tight, worldly list of wines a good nudge. With a focus on farefriendly aromatic whites and big reds, wines by the glass ($11-$16) are poured at the table (tick) but ours tended to the under-pour.

But plentiful staff keeps the room humming along, clearing/resetting plates and baskets of cutlery and paper napkins as needed, with bar staff augmenting with a good line in tropical/topical cocktails and cold Chang beer.

BKK might be ALC in its cool outlook but is firmly placed in the BLC age of Thai that’s had its heat turned down. Playing it less safe could pay off. For if anyone knows how to Netflix and chilli, it’s the millennials who hang here.