We are delighted to announce that we have found, in our opinion at least, the best Thai restaurant in Melbourne. Jinda Thai in Abbotsford serves up some of the best Thai food we have ever had and they make a mean iced milk tea as well. We always wished for Home Thai or Chat Thai to branch out from Sydney but thankfully, we now have an authentic place of our own here in Melbourne. We ordered from their regular menu(they have a lunch menu) and had:
Fish cake - Jinda Thai's own recipe (AU$8.90) - Springy and full of flavour, it also has a slight kick to it. Wonderful little entree and good for sharing.
Tom yum - spicy and sour soup with lemongrass and lime leaf. A signature Thai dish with prawns (AU$16.9) - Not very spicy, a little sweet and the generous serving of prawns was cooked well. Large enough to share between two or even three.
Deep fried soft shell crab with pepper and garlic sauce (AU$17.9) - Perfectly fried, the crabs(two pieces) were crispy and juicy with just the right balance of pepper and garlic.
Roasted duck in red curry (AU$17.9) - Thinly sliced pieces of duck in a slightly sweet red curry. Loved the other ingredients(lychee, pumpkin etc) in the curry as they really made this a complete dish.
Ice cream grati - coconut ice cream, coconut flavoured sticky rice, crunchy peanuts and palm fruit (AU$8.5) - Lovely end to a beautiful lunch. It had good texture contrasts and a nice light flavour; not too sweet.
Service: :star :star :star :star :star
Quality of food: :star :star :star :star :star
Value for money: :star :star :star :star ½
Quality of food: :star :star :star :star :star
Value for money: :star :star :star :star ½
Type of venue: Thai
Worth a return visit? Yes.