Siam Pung for Lunch

Siam Pung
69-79 Boundary Street, West End

I've finished my Bali posts and can get cracking on my backlog of unpublished Brisbane reviews. If you've been bored about all this "irrelevant overseas stuff" stay tuned because I have tonnes of local restaurants to talk about.

The first of these is Siam Pung, which is Thai dessert cafe local to me. It's the sister cafe to Siam Samrarn, a very popular Thai restaurant in West End. I visited Siam Pung a long time ago, probably earlier this year.

Chicken schnitzel on turkish bread

I popped in for lunch when I noticed their chicken schnitzel special and although the coffee and schnitzel were decent (but unremarkable), I was impressed by how pretty and open the layout and decor was.

Latte

I told myself I must return for another visit so that I'd have enough information to put up a decent review.

This second visit did eventually happen but it was many months later. Marc happened to be home one weekday so I took him to Siam Pung for lunch. The menu here is a mixed bag of cafe usuals (sandwiches etc), Thai light meals and deserts and cakes. We ordered a couple of dishes and Thai iced coffee.

Marc and I took up a lovely table in the courtyard which I found to be tranquil and relaxing. This is easily the kind of cafe I could set up a laptop or have a meeting and just chill.

Iced Thai coffees

Our iced coffees arrived first. These each involved a double shot of espresso and ice mixed with cold milk and a dash of condensed milk. I know of some Thai iced coffees being infused with cardamom but this version didn't have that. It was still a wonderfully strong and refreshing beverage though.

Green papaya salad with grilled pork

For lunch, Marc ordered the green papaya salad with grilled pork. This meal was served first in typical Asian fashion. By the time my food was brought out, Marc was done eating. The salad was very fresh and full of flavour with some marinated Vietnamese-style grilled pork pieces. I imagine this would have been too small to fill Marc up on a regular day but he was going out for a lunch meeting after this anyway so it was just the right size. We both loved that the dressing had a powerful kick of chilli.

Tom yum soup with pork

I ordered the tom yum soup with pork. This version was great and again, full of flavour. I take issue with some tom yum soups being too sweet but Siam Pung kept a good balance for my palate.

I didn't know what to expect from Siam Pung because the menu is so diverse but their Asian dishes exceeded my expectations. I like the idea of an Asian-style cafe where you can order a light lunch or snack and drink and enjoy it at your own pace in a comfy environment. Siam Pung delivers on that front and I hope to try some of their Thai desserts in the future.