Green Tea Restaurant

In the newly refurbished Chinatown Mall in the Valley. Anyone else think the refurb looks like it was designed by the Jetsons? Totally space-age.
A new restaurant, Green Tea, in the centre of the mall. On the Saturday night we went, it was almost totally full. Some good Asian beers ON TAP(!), nice Thai-inspired classic dishes, reasonable prices. Good for a big, raucous group gathering.

Salt and pepper squid
Thai beef salad (a little bland: ask for extra lemon and chili)
Mixed braised vegetables
Pork rib hotpot
Prawn sugarcane rice rolls

Lightly Asian birthday dinner

This was really lovely. Light, delicate flavours, great company, simple quality food.

Ginger fried prawns

Whole steamed coral trout with soy, ginger and shallots

Jasmine rice

Thai salad with peanut chilli dressing

Raspberry lime pavlova

The pav was interesting. See how tall and round it is? Yeah, it's basically hollow. I thought the deadweight of the cream and berries would implode it. Originally I made another pav, one whose recipe I followed off the interweb and mindlessly set the oven to the temperature stated. Forty minutes later, I smelt brown. The oven was too high, too soon, and the outside was caramelised and crispy. Still good, but NOT GOOD ENOUGH. So I cried for a while and went through the seven stages of grief in about twenty minutes, then went for Attempt 2. This one was tall, smooth and completely white in an unashamedly Aryan dessert mindset. The toppings were inspired by something in last weekend's paper which I forgot to keep. Whip some cream and then smash a punnet of raspberries through it: pile on pavlova. Sprinkle more fresh raspberries on and then grate some lime zest, and dust with icing sugar.

Originally I wanted to also add lychees (for the Asian theme) but they were grey and ugly against the whiteness. Also wanted to add fresh pink rose petals and intended to purloin them from next door's rose garden, but she must have read my mind because all the roses were cut when it was fence-sneaking time.

The candles are set into balls of tinted fondant around the edge of the platter.

The sharpness of the berries and lime, the unsweetened cream and the melting shell-like pavlova all combined beautifully. It was said that this was the best pav/fruit combo EVER. Perhaps I agree.

Mons Ban Sabai Thai Garden Restaurant

Three things:
1. They won the best Thai in the state
2. Adrasteia posted some great stuff about her visit to their cooking school
3. I love Thai and they are a 5-minute drive away (OK, that's two)

So therefore, it was time to partake. Yummy menu, fantastic staff, great decor and artwork, lovely setting. We had (for Lord Porkface and I) the Pad Thai (with beef), the Gai Yang marinated and barbecued chicken, the Yam Nua beef salad and a tiny scrap of rice to share. All awesome. The barbecued chicken received His Majesty's special seal of approval. Carved flowers and vegetables abound.
The only tragic thing about the whole evening was not the restaurant's problem: a huge table of middle-aged couples next to us was hilariously brought to attention at the arrival of one of their party. A woman who was probably in her mid-forties, no longer a spring chicken, in fact, with the stumpy body and legs of an old boiler (which is fine, except for...) wearing a MATCHING CORAL-COLOURED SHORTS SUIT (I'll repeat that: SHORTS SUIT) consisting of SHORT SHORTS and MATCHING PUFFY TOP, crowned by long, Charlie's Angels black hair and balancing the whole lot on a pair of super-high, tacky black and gold stilettos with big gladiatorial ankle straps. You should have seen my eyes bugging out. I had to collect my jaw off the floor.

So, sorry, Coral Lady, but when complete strangers are floored by your muttonly attire, perhaps its time to head down to the shops and select some more age-and-occasion-appropriate clothing. However I thank you for providing me with the evening's entertainment.