YOU know a restaurant must be doing something right when it’s been around for 35 years.
Thai Corner opened in Applecross in 1989, when Especially for You by Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan was number one and Ronald Reagan – a B-movie actor who appeared in films with chimps – was president.
I’m glad the US political landscape has evolved and is now a more nuanced, sophisticated arena[sic].
Thai Corner was opened by Jarint, who grew up in Thailand and moved to Perth in 1984.
After a stint working as restaurant manager at Rama Thai, he decided to open his own gaff (Thai Corner) and his brother “Lek” moved over from Thailand to become head chef.
To this day, the restaurant is still in the same family’s hands and in 2014 and 2015 it won a Gold Plate award for best licensed Thai restaurant.
A cool family tale, but all this was academic if the grub wasn’t up to much, so what was it like?
Corner’s takeaway menu had a nice range of entrees, curries, mains, seafood, and rice and noodles dishes.
Highlights included chiangmai (minced chicken breast sautéed in chilli paste and tomatoes, with lettuce and cucumber), jungle curry, boneless roast duck, salty beef, and pad-khing.
My wife “Special K” likes mild dishes, so she ordered the yellow chicken curry ($26.90).
“I’m loving the creamy coconut sauce and there’s a nice mix of fresh veg and potatoes,” she said.
“There’s plenty of tender chicken and I’m enjoying the subtle pinch of tamarind in there.
“It’s a very moreish dish and for someone like me, who doesn’t like it too spicy, it’s the perfect level of heat.”
I couldn’t go past the chilli prawns ($33.90) which were sautéed in coconut cream with a dash of lemon.
First up, the tail-on king prawns were juicy and perfectly cooked – no rubber bullets here – and there was plenty of them.
The all important sauce had a lovely balance – creamy but not sickly and just the right amount of heat, so it didn’t overpower the seafood.
The accompanying green and red peppers were vibrant and tasty, but I would have liked a bit more veg, but that’s often de rigueur with Thai curries.
To accompany the mains, my wife and I shared a Jasmine rice ($4) which was light and fragrant.
Across the table my two young kids were sharing a chicken pad Thai ($20.90).
My daughter had been jumping about on trampolines in a warehouse for two hours – when I dropped her off it looked a bit like an outing for the League of German Girls in the 1930s – so she was ravenous and wolfed down the rice noodles, bean sprouts and chicken.
Pad Thai is a bit like the parmi of Asian cuisine, and a poor one can be a drab cliche, but this was put together with care and had nice strips of fluffy egg and crushed nuts scattered over the top.
It looked super fresh, the chook was good quality and it had a subtle pleasant flavour.
The meal was reasonably priced with good portions and the food generally hit the mark, without blowing my mind.
It feels like one of those local places where you never get a bad feed and delivers the goods time and time again, hence why it’s been going for nearly four decades.
So hats off to Jarint for the longevity and surviving umpteen presidents, including one who thought “trees cause more pollution than automobiles”.
Thai Corner
3/795 Canning Highway, Applecross
thaicorner.com.au
by STEPHEN POLLOCK