There’s a well known quote from the Australian film “The Castle” that Mr NQN and I occasionally like to say to each other. It’s about bargains.
Darryl Kerrigan (father): Jousting sticks? What’s he want for ‘em?
Steve Kerrigan (son): Make us an offer. Give him a call?
Darryl Kerrigan: Yeah.
Steve Kerrigan: Dad? 450.
Darryl Kerrigan: For jousting sticks? Tell him he’s dreamin’!
And when we find out that that seafood curries are a tiny $14 at this little unassuming Thai restaurant in Marrickville we find ourselves crowing “13 bucks for a seafood curry? Tell him he’s dreamin’!”
Outside it looks like any other suburban Thai restaurant. A neon “open” sign flashes outside and there’s a large plasma television screen stuck to the back wall. A high chair sits at a large table and there is a family dining in the corner. It could be just like any Thai restaurant except that the chef behind it is from Spice I am Polawat Danphasukul and his wife Phanissa Sricharoen is the sweet, smiling face on the floor. We take a look at the menu-legend has it that a seafood curry can be had for $13.90 and we’re excited. I realise that my Cheap Thrills $20 and under category hasn’t had many entries lately- I started it 2.5 years ago when it was actually possible to get a meal under $20 per person but these days it seems like it’s getting rarer and rarer. I had read about it Tina’s blog Food. Booze & Shoes knowing that Mr NQN would love it.
Curry puffs 4 for $5.90
We start with the curry puffs which are filled with potatoes and spices and a firm, crunchy pastry. I personally prefer the deep fried puff pastry (deep frying puff pastry has got to be some sort of genius move) and these are harder and a touch drier.
Lemongrass salad $10.90
Our salad arrives and looks incredibly fresh and inviting. We spoon some of the salad replete with fresh herbs and flavours and three fat, juicy prawns and thin slivers of lemongrass. It’s so refreshing and beautifully spicy so that we start to sniffle between bouts of mmming and aaahing-it’s a happy sniffle you do understand borne of chilli appreciation( although this item was marked with a single chilli which makes us worried for the heat in our subsequent dishes).
Seafood Red Curry $13.90
I do love a good Thai curry and the red curry seems to go well with the seafood. The curry is aromatic and creamy and slightly sweet with the tenderest seafood in it including prawns, squid and mussels. Along with the seafood there’s also small round Thai eggplants (a little bigger than a cherry tomato size with a green and white patterned exterior) and pea eggplants which look like peas only larger and starchier with a bitterness to them. It’s quite mild in comparison to the lemongrass salad even though this too has a single chilli rating. And because this is so good, we’re glad that we ordered the rice for two people as we need a vehicle to soak up the delicious sauce.
Ka Naa Moo Grob $11.90
There were four pork belly dishes on the menu, the specialty dishes having more meat whereas the two in the stir fried section included more vegetables so we decided to go the healthier route (by comparison – after all it is pork belly 
) and go for the option with crispy pork belly, chilli and Chinese broccoli. Some of the pork belly pieces are a bit drier than other but mostly they’re soft and juicy and the whole dish reminds me quite a bit of a Chinese stir fry.
Sticky rice with coconut custard $3.50
I always have room for Thai desserts and this one has a layer of green sticky rice on the bottom and a very sweet coconut egg custard on top. The custard is very sweet, perhaps a little over the top sweet for me but despite this I finish my half.
Glutinous Rice with coconut milk $3.50
I was hankering for another dessert so we ordered this not knowing exactly what to expect. In it we get multicoloured chewy rice balls in a simple syrup with a dash of coconut milk. And even though this sounds simple, it has a moreishness that is hard to beat. It is sweet but it’s not a sweetness that has you pushing away the bowl-kind of the opposite in fact.
We didn’t quite make this into the under $20 category but this was only because we ordered a lot including dessert although I should think that if you ordered sensibly you could certainly get into the $20 per person category so I’m sneaking this in there
So tell me Dear Reader, what’s your favourite movie moment or quote?
Let’s Eat Thai Restaurant
352 Illawarra Road, Marrickville, NSW
Tel: +61 (02) 9558 9508
Open 7 days
Lunch: 11:30am-4pm
Dinner 4:30pm-10pm
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60 Comments | Add your own
The seafood curry looks absolutely delicious!!!
Cool, a recco in our neck of the woods! Thanks Lorraine! I have to admit this isn’t the sort of restaurant I’d walk into normally, so it’s great to have some feedback on it. And I do love Spice I Am…
I’m going crazy over the curry puffs and the sticky rice. Fabulous! I don’t do very many restaurant reviews (can only think of one, actually) but I sure do love yours. And I don’t even live there!
I am so interested in the glutinous rice with coconut milk! (I think it’s the pretty multi-colored balls that are luring me in.
) What a gorgeous feast, Lorraine!
the lemongrass salad has me salivating! Looks like a winner given the prices.
Ok, that rice in milk looks like Lucky Charms!
oooh that dessert sure looks interesting!
hahah I love the Castle too!! Such a great Aussie movie…. We actually drove through ‘Bonnie Doon’ last weekend too
The seafood curry looks yummy. Love a meal that costs under $20 pp.
I love nice Asian food like this. Not the overly sugary stuff from the local takeaway!
Thai is perfect for the cool weather. I’m making my way there soon. Thanks for the rec and review Lorraine x
haha I love that quote from the Castle!
It took me a bit to appreciate the Aussie classic, but now I love it! We even passed through Bonnie Doon last year on a road trip and had to stop and take photos.
Thanks so much for reviewing this place – have heard so much about it!
mine has to be top gun! “negative ghost rider, the pattern is full…” i am so going to check this place out on the weekend! thanks for sharing again lorraine! i dunno how u do it…u seem to be in so many places at one time!
Looks so yummy!!
Not sure if I can go past:
“Luke, I am your father…”
“Nooooooooo!!!”
That looks like a beautiful Thai restaurant. I love how there are so many little Thai gems for a small price out here in Sydney now.
I have many favourite movie moments but a couple would have to be Luke Skywalker looking at the two moons in New Hope (love the music in that bit!) and “Nobody puts baby in a corner” from Dirty Dancing, love that bit!
I’m moving to Marrickville next month – I can’t wait to make this a local! xx
I adore Thai food, especially the fact that often the local unassuming ones have fabulous food and lovely service.
Movie wise I have terrible taste and quote things constantly – today it’s from Never been Kissed
“I was thinking about how Shakespeare would describe a night like this (she quotes in flowery detail and then says)”what are you thinking about? (He says) My sword”
I am going to take the Canadian there for her last night in Australia. What could be more Australian than Thai?! ha ha…
oh dear god. I’d do anything for a good bit of pork belly! And that looks like some goooood pork belly.
I’m a fan of the multi coloured chewy rice balls too! They look like fruit loops!
I do the Castle quotes with my boyfriend too! haha
And Crackerjack of course!
“Swear jar Stan!”
what a hidden treasure! don’t think i would have walked in there if it hadn’t been for your blog…will definitely have to try!
i love pineapple express ‘f$ck the po-lice!”
the sticky rice with coconut custard looks nice id be able to finish all that if i was full from food as well
You beat me to it! I was here over month ago and am yet to blog about it. I found the food pretty good
The lemongrass salad looks amazing. I do love seafood & I love a good bargin. Your right it’s getting harder & harder to find anything under $20.
What a bargain – even better that it looks and tastes so delicious. Wish there was one near my place!
It’s a common sight to see me red-faced, sniffling over a good curry. I normally wouldn’t put myself through such torture unless it’s fabulous spicy grub!
The rice with coconut custard sounds interesting- I’ve never encountered it before but those chewy colourful balls? MMM, I’m one of those coconut-milk crazy people.
Bring it on!
This all sounds fabulous. There’s nothing like a good Thai, and especially if it’s a bargain.
I have many favourite movie quotes from Casablanca – the exchanges between Rick and Renaud are fabulous. A particular fave comes from Rick (when Ugarte boasts of his assistance in obtaining exit visas for refugees):
“At a price Ugarte, at a price.”
OMG! This is right near my place! I’ve been meaning to try it since hearing about it in Time Out. Love the sound of the curry and I always have room for Thai desserts too
Damn it, you found my gorgeous thai local secret… everyone will go there now they’ve read your blog!
The Lemongrass Salad looks really intriguing.
That is an impossible question to answer off the cuff! I really feel I should be able to answer it, but my mind has gone completely and utterly blank. Fail.
So I’ll revert to something simpler, which is that I really, really, really want that lemongrass salad…
I too ate in Marrickville recently but I did African cuisine! I’ll post on it shortly. The prawn dish you had looked fanstastic but must say i’m not a fan of thai desserts
I’m going to have to have seafood next time…! And that rice ball dessert certainly looks like fun!
My favourite movie quote has got to be from ‘Bridget Jones’ when Renee Zellweger picks up the phone after a bedroom scene..
“Bridget Jones with a very bad man between her thighs… oh, hi Mum…” classic!
Ahhhhhh…..we never get tired of the Castle! Apart from that, “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” is a classic for quotes. **Clark checking the tree…. “LOTTA SAP in here,(spits then gives a-ok sign) Looks great!!
Looks great!! Little full!! Lotta sap!!”
(oops! Hit post comment by mistake!)
Favorite movie quote – it’s got to be Rhett Butler’s ‘I don’t give a damn!.’ As for the food, the sticky rice with coconut custard looks awesome, and it would make me try something different to my all-time favorite Thai dessert Mango and Sticky Rice. I would love to see NQN try this recipe.
Oh Lorraine, Im soo happy you tried this restaurant, as this is my current fav at the moment. I first saw it in Time Out Sydney. My fav is their kra prao moo grob, the pork belly with chilli and holly basil yuuummm…tar zan in jungle curry (super hot!!!) crispy fish salad and som tum … yummy yummy yummy…
I agree Rhett Butler’s ‘frankly my dear I don’t give a damn’
Love Thai food.
The seafood curry looks yummy!!!
Ahh I love thai curry, and the desserts look good too! Esp the sticky rice one.
You found something too sweet for your tastebuds? Wow, that’s gotta be worth trying! It all looks so good. My favourite quotation is “dignity, always dignity” from Singin in the Rain!
Oh gosh, you have me craving Thai food in the middle of Korean godforsaken city. No Thai here! Ah, why couldn’t it have been Korean food? haha! Is there any Korean restaurants around where you live?
lorraine, been awhile,thanks for recommending this:-) So basically, Spice I Am quality food with cheaper suburban prices..photos look great too!
deep-fried puff pastry? i’ve never had that, and i’m a bit torn up about it. what a treat it must be.
Everything looks Thairiffic!!
I have so many quotes and I use the classic from The Castle, frequently as well . Others are “Beam me up Scotty” from Star Trek, “Book’em Danno”, from Hawaii 5o, but my all-time favourite is from the legendary black & white movie siren Mae West,” Is that a gun in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me!” said as she was swinging her hips, very avant garde for her era.
Love the look of the lemongrass salad & the pork belly! Delicious!
Can’t think of a stand out movie quote at the moment but i’m a big fan of The Castle
I think every Australian loves to quote the Castle – it is a national obsession. The favourite in our house is often “it’s the vibe” or “this is going straight to the poolroom”! (not that we even have a poolroom)
Tell him he’s dreamin’ is a hard quote to go past in terms of usability
Total bargains here in spite of your overordering, which can only be expected – we’d all be doing the same, don’t worry. Am a little concerned about the custard though – if you, Ms Sweet Tooth herself thinks it is too sweet, there is no hope for the rest of us!
how’s the serenity Not Quite Nigella? but I also love sister movie to The Castle, The Dish.
Sounds fantastic- cheep eats can also be found at Best barbecue in Eastwood plaza- we fed our family of two adults ,two small children lunch one day for 20 bucks including drinks!! the won ton noodle soup was as better than most because their wontons are loaded with prawns, plus they gave us a complimentary bowl of house soup( I liked it ) for the table.
favourite movie moment?
The wedding scene in “Love Actually when the best man had a secret performance of ” All you need is love” waiting for the groom after their vows- yes, I am male
I am a Thai food maniac. This place looks yum.
You should try Buddha Raksa in Enfield. It is brilliant and the service is top-notch.
ooh a Spice I am offshoot…must go, must go…..!
Ah… Lets Eat Thai… Yes, Lets do! What a great little place! Will definitely be heading back in the near future…
Woo I was just wondering about this place when me and friends went for our cheap & fast quick dinner at Old Thanh Huong next door the other day.
Food looks good, though I’m not a big fan of spicy food!
oh wow! I live in the area, but never tried here. Always get distracted by the amazing vietnamese just up the road
But will def have to check it out!
Ooooooh, sounds yummmo! Had a fantastic Mussaman chicken curry at my local last night but I do love a seafood curry also. This place is just a few suburbs away so will definitely travel very soon. I have had sticky rice dessert before but not this colour (or is is trick photography? hahaha). My favourite movie quote is “I feel the need …. the need for speed!” between Maverick & Goose in Top Gun. I never tire of it …. & now I’m picturing those guys in their white uniforms & their smiles …. yeah, I know, that’s totally unrelated but just wanted to share!!
Your photography is great. What camera are you using? Shame I live in Peak Hill, middle of NSW or would be trying your haunts.
ATB David
To correct my mispelling my own NAME!!!
Ooh I love it when you review in my ‘hood. Lol.
My sister lives on this street, so I’m always driving past it, but now I think I’m going to have to drop in. We always go to Thairiffic in Newtown, but will definately try Let’s Eat. Love the look of that pork belly dish
When i saw the title, i thought it was a general comment, Let’s Eat!! hahaha
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