Suan I-San – Newtown (closed)

The entire stretch of King Street, Newtown, has something like 21 Thai restaurants. This doesn’t include 6 on Enmore Rd. I’m not kidding people. South of Enmore Road, my end of town, has 6. Frankly I think Newtown is a little over saturated with this cuisine. Some stand out from others, yet most of them seem to be far from truly authentic, despite the heaving crowds that rave on about them. The cooks in these places seem to have lost touch with their craft and buckled to the pressure of precious Aussies with sensitive palates. A little sad really.

Suan I-San has been around for over a decade. Tucked away under an apartment block near Newtown High School. The decor is a little tired, rustic wooden chairs and tables, sprawling floor, paper napkins folded neatly in wine glasses. Outside you have a few tables and rigid benches. Recent kitchen renovations revealed a more open-plan kitchen with glass wall for passers-by to peer at the cooks tossing woks and grilling meats. Thai kitchen theatrics.
You can even stock up your pantry with curry sauces, pickles, dried chilli flakes and ground rice. A nice touch.

fish cakes $7.5

The menu is typically Thai. Stuff you’ve seen on any menu and a few things you haven’t. The I San (traditional) menu has some interesting options: Chicken feet salad, liver salad, honeycombed bible salad. All sound interesting. I must find out what the latter is. Tripe, maybe?

To start we went for the classic entree participant on any Thai menu: Fish Cakes. The four cakes you recieve are generous in size and seem to have a mousse-like consistency inside. I’ve never really had a fish cake quite like it.

gai yang – bbq chicken, boneless grilled with Thai herbs and special house sauce $13.5

It’s basically their version of nahm jim jaew, a hot, sour and tangy concoction of chilli, garlic, ginger, coriander root, palm sugar, fish sauce and lemon. All ground in a mortar and pestle. I’ve had this sauce before, and this one tops the lot in the chilli stakes.

papaya pok pok – fresh green papaya with roast peanut, lemon juice and chilli $10.5

A side of Papaya Pok Pok was ordered as well and comes out on an impressive rectangular platter. It really was quite delicious. Sweet, sour, crunchy and spicy from the chilli and chunks of raw garlic.

moo yang – grilled pork neck $10.5

The final dish coming was the tasty Moo Yang, albeit, half an hour after the other things came.The grilled meat is boneless and tender and smoky in flavour. Another delicious choice with a side of special nahm jim jaew which wasn’t touched. I’m afraid.

I’ve got to say this meal wasn’t the best I’ve had, but it wasn’t the most average, either. They never seem to get busy here, but somehow they survive. Will we return? Probably, some day.

Tagged as: Inner West, Newtown, Thai