Papaya

TamaraC

Keeping it on time at Papaya Thai 20th May 2007

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Papaya Thai was not my first choice for a Thank-God-it's-Friday dinner out. We ended up at Papaya Thai because they were full at Cactus Blue. (‘A good sign for Cactus Blue' I thought, for future reference. ‘This supports the evidence for it being a good-value, modern Australian venue, thereby allowing me to use two of my favourite ‘tags' for it when I review it for Trusted Places!') In any case, lucky for us, Papaya could squeeze us in at 7.30 if we could please leave by 8.45. Which I was told twice on the phone and twice on arriving, then once during the meal. All very politely, but firmly. I began to wonder if some celebrity was due at 8.45 and had said ‘and I MUST have that cramped noisy table at the very back corner of the restaurant', but apparently not.

In any case, Papaya Thai is a very visually appealing restaurant decorated in a style I would describe as ‘Thai Funk'. A long dark wood communal table, surrounded by smaller square tables with square squat stools or benches for seating. Vases with decorative twiggery, subtle metallics and funky lighting furniture. but extremely noisy (no soft furnishings, hard floor, packed in like sardines). If you're going and you have a choice, ask for a table near the window, that way you will be able to hear your fellow diners and speak without spitting pandan leaves at them.

The food is a far cry from regular Thai offerings. There is a page of the usual Massaman or Green curry, but why would you take them on when there is ‘Kai Hor Bai Toey'? The dish arrived and I could see that portion size is not a problem at Papaya. Four generous packages of marinated chicken, literally wrapped in pandan leaf and skewered to secure. No pasty deep fried coating, only a crispy, slightly tea-leaf tasting leaf. I unwrapped mine (the tea-leaf factor becoming a big much after chewing through a couple of mouthfuls) to enjoy the tender, moist pieces of chicken.

We followed this with ‘Som Tum' a North Eastern Thai salad of shredded green papaya tossed with dried shrimp, cherry tomato, peanuts and lemon juice dressing, that comes with a choice of ‘Kai Yang', ‘Moo Ping' or ‘Neua Yang'. We chose Moo Ping, bbq marinated pork pieces, which were smokey and tangy and a welcome relief from the fire in the papaya salad that was so chilli that I remarked to DC that my mouth actually hurt. The crunchy green papaya and sour-spicy flavours of the sauce were a great accompaniment to the pork, just could have done with a little less chilli!

Our second main was ‘Ped Nam Buoy'. Chunky pieces of duck roasted with plum sauce in luxury quantity were interspersed with long shards of cinnamon and star anise and a thick fragrant sauce A little bed of bok choy and shiitake mushrooms was another welcome calmant after the fire of the papaya salad. Only trouble was trying to delicately eat whole baby bok choy with chopsticks as it slapped its saucy leaves against my face! I was glad of the dim corner and wished for a knife.

I thought the food was great, and many other things on the menu tempt me to return, so next time Cactus Blue is full, we'll be back!

PS No photos of the food because lighting was so dim!