Sunday, January 15, 2012

Thai Nee Cafe, Brunswick East

On Saturday night, I headed out to Thai Nee Cafe in East Brunswick with my Northern dwelling friends, Veronica and Christian.  As the name suggests, Thai Nee is a relatively tiny establishment tucked into the non-touristy end of Lygon Street, and is a firm favourite with the locals judging from the reviews online.  Thai Nee is BYO and cash-only, so bring your alcohol and a cashed-up wallet.

The prices at Thai Nee are very reasonable, and the food was good.  The service was a little slow, but this was likely because the restaurant was very busy, despite it being 8.30pm before we arrived.  Veronica and Christian have been before, and said that on a Thursday night, the service is much quicker.

We shared our dishes.  For entree, we started with the chicken mince spring rolls, with sweet chilli dipping sauce (the full serve was 6 rolls):



We also ordered the very delicious fish cakes, which also came with a sweet, honey-like dipping sauce (forgive the blurry photo):


 These fish cakes were not battered or crumbed, but were rather flat cakes of fried fish mince with herbs and spices - and were utterly moorish.

For mains, Veronica and Christian ordered their "signature dishes - the chicken yellow curry:


and the ginger beef:


The curry was very mild and sweet, while the beef dish was zingy with a touch of bite.

As the newcomer, I ordered sweet and sour chicken "with pineapples" (according to the menu):


I was relieved when no whole pineapples arrived at the table - rather, the rich, tomato-based sweet and sour sauce was bejewelled with pineapple pieces.  Veronica was a fan, as was I, but Christian not so much.

We also ordered steamed rice for the table to mop up all of that glorious sauce.  The rice arrived in a large patterned aluminium bowl in a matching stand, looking for all the world to me like the goblet that Edmund drank from when given a drink by the White Witch in The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.

The food was very reasonably priced, with starters around the $7-8 mark, and mains at ~$12  for pork, beef or chicken, and $16-17 for seafood.

Thai Nee is definitely a keeper - just remember to leave the plastic at home.

Thai Nee Cafe
150 Lygon Street
Brunswick East VIC 3057

(03) 9388 0411

16 comments:

  1. lovely - I went there ages ago and keep meaning to return - such a cute name

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  2. Yum that looks delish! Emailing this a friend so we can check it out next time I'm over that way.

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  3. Wish i could join you to this cosy place as the food looks so good.

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  4. CurlyPops, I'd love to know what you think.

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  5. Oh, I just love it when you go out to eat and then bring it all home to the blog...it is so much fun to see it all and hear about it. Thanks for sharing! All of it looks wonderful.

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  6. oh those chicken spring rolls look great - I've never had a spring roll with meat in it before

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  7. The spring rolls look delicious! And six in one order. Wow.

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  8. Paul and I had Thai food this week, as well! We ventured out in the snow for spring rolls (can't resist!), spicy basil pork and chicken pad thai. Love Thai food!

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  9. Looks like a great place to enjoy some Thai favourites! :D

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  10. What a delicious looking meal! Their spring rolls look like taquitos - how cute.

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  11. Duckie, it means beyond delicious so that you want more.

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  12. Those little cash restaurants can be utter gems, can't they! Of course there are a couple that are complete duds, too.

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  13. Yum :) Now i'm craving Thai food ~ But i can be a little annoying when places are slow even though they're not busy hehe

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Thanks for dropping by!