Coconut Thai, Wollongong

According to eatability, Coconut Thai is THE restaurant to visit... fabulous service, authentic, tasty and affordable food. So when the restaurant across the street asked us to wait 15mins to be seated, we naturally declined and gave Coconut Thai a go.

complimentary starter - spicy prawn crackers The service here proved to be a standout... attentive, knowledgable and just really sincere. As I sat there flipping through the menu, munching on the complimentary spicy prawn crackers, I was eavesdropping (as you do). The young waitress was explaining to the group beside us, that they should looking for an oyster sauce based stir fry because they didn't want anything hot. What's better than helpful waitstaff who know what they're talking about.

A favourite Thai dish of mine has always been the duck curry. I adore the unique addition of tropical fruits... the cherry tomatoes, grapes and pineapple balanced out the richness of the duck and coconut milk so well.

duck red curry with grapes, cherry tomatoes, pineapple & basil The menu provided plentiful to choose from. So we ended up selecting the next two dishes from the specials. One of Coconut Thai's house speciality are mussels stir fried with chilli and basil. Although I had expected the mussels to be served with the shells intact, it was simply a pleasure to eat them whole. Eat bite was full of flavour... simply delicious with the fresh capsicum, onion, bamboo shoots, string beans, shallots and ofcourse chilli.

mussels & vegies tossed in chilli basil Another house specialty which I couldn't resist ordering was the Poh Tak Seafood. And you can surely tell why it's on the specials list. The soup was cleansing and fragrant with stalks of lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves. Amongst the fish, scallops, prawns and squid were mushrooms, tomatoes, dried and fresh cut chillis.

Poh-Tak Seafood - clear Tom Yum soup with mixed seafood Upon leaving, we were also presented with a tiny frangipani candle and mint chocolates. These weren't the ordinary types either... the centre was moist... fudge-like... mmmmm...

chocs & gift

Plus with all the waitstaff wishing us a good night, I almost felt like a local :-)

Need another reason to visit? Coconut Thai boasts an impressive vegetarian menu, which includes over 30 different dishes! Coconut Thai 187 Keira Street Wollongong Check out their MySpace & menu