Birthday and farewell party at Modern Thai

Modern Thai Restaurant
http://www.modernthai.com.au/



A friend of mine from uni used to always rave about this Thai restaurant called Modern Thai. He had a birthday and farewell party there this past weekend and I was lucky enough to be invited along and join the celebrations. I was waaayyyy excited because after all his positive reviews, I really wanted to try the place.



Modern Thai is located on the corner of Logan and Creek roads. I drive past it all the time and it looks very snappy and contemporary (I wanted to avoid using the word 'modern' :p). There is an indoor dining area and an enclosed outside area... which is where the party was located.





We took up 2 long tables. The birthday boy had arranged a set menu for us and there were waitresses going around passing out champagne. So awesome.


About 4 quantities of each menu item was brought out and distributed along the table. By some strange stroke of luck, I was seated at the end of one table with empty seats on the other side so that when the food arrived, me and the guy opposite me had exclusive access to the plates put in front of us.

Curry puff inside

For entrees, there were spring rolls, curry puffs and oysters. I've heard a lot of people complain about curry puffs as entrees. I can sort of see their point because many just taste like the supermarket box variety. I still like them though! But these curry puffs were a league above.

Tasmanian rock oyster - with ginger, shallot and lime

I also adored the oysters. They were FAT and FRESH. I had forgotten about fresh oysters until that night! The lime and ginger made it pop but the true value is still in the quality of oysters themselves.

Creamy green curry with beef

We had 3 mains and rice to share. The Thai green curry beef was so delicious. I normally don't like Thai green curry because it's watery and boring but this one was rich in flavor and went excellently with the rice. I kept ladling out the curry sauce for my self. The green beans added nice texture to the dish too.

Sweet Thai basil and chili with chicken

My favorite of the mains was the chili basil chicken. It was just so fresh, tender and full of flavor. I hear Thai food is all about balance well this dish just did it for me: sweet, savory, spicy, slightly sour and all brought together with aromatic Thai basil.

Traditional Thai paw paw salad - with chili and lime dressing

I also loved the paw paw salad. To be honest, on first taste I was like 'this is weird'. It's shaved, unripe green pawpaw tossed with a dressing that tastes predominantly of fish sauce with some lime and chili. After a while the whole thing grew on me and I kept going back for more. I nearly polished off the whole bowl.

Chef's special - Bangkok chili mud crab

The main affair had to be the chili mud crab. The mud crabs were very fleshy and the sauce was nice and rich. I would have liked it to be sweeter and spicier though but I am a chili nut :D.

I'd have to say Modern Thai definitely lived up to my expectations. There are hardly any restaurants I go to nowadays that I think 'I really HAVE to go there and I HAVE to tell all my friends about it' because I'm so occupied with trying NEW places. I'll break my own rules for Modern Thai because even though it's only been a few days since the party, I already am keen on heading back for more.