It was a very, very wet Australia Day long weekend when we just couldn’t take staying indoors any longer. There’s only so much television, internet and working on the blog I can take so I suggested we hit the trains and venture to a suburb that rarely sees us. Strathfield. Korean, Vietnamese and Chinese are the predominant flavours of this Inner West suburb, but were weren’t there for any of that. And why not add more blog work by trying somewhere new?
Down on the corner of The Boulevarde and Redmyre Road, also two doors down from Bagan, is this modern-looking Thai eatery called Bangkok Snap. If anyone’s heard of the Chilli Jam Thai Restaurants in Concord, Parramatta and Gladesville, think of this snappy eatery in Strathfield as cousin #1. You’ll find snappy cousin #2 in Northmead. Got it? OK then.
One thing I noticed, and liked, as soon as I opened the menu was the slight presence of Thai street-style food. This is a good thing for me as there are only so many green curries, fish cakes and pad thai’s I can handle. Yes the pre-mentioned dishes may make it to the Bangkok Snap menu pages but I skimmed past them as I do at any Thai eatery.
It was unfortunate that there were only two mouths and stomachs at our table as I wanted to try much more than you’ll see here. Sai grog issan were a must and I’ve got to say I prefer these over the ones I’ve had at House numerous times. These slightly sour sausages are much more moist and quite fluffy on the inside with a hell of a lot of garlic and impaled with a skewer for easy attacking.
The yum hoy nang rom was another plate of deliciousness I didn’t regret ordering. Half a dozen Sydney rock oysters virtually hidden beneath a flurry of lemongrass, red onion, coriander, mild chilli and mint. The massive oysters are creamy, briny and perfectly matched with the added lime dressing.
Moo yang is always a favourite. Tender chunks of juicy and slightly fatty marinated pork, char-grilled and served with a very mild nam jim jaw (jaew). For the price, this was a huge portion and an absolute winner, despite the lack of chilli.
I don’t think I’ve ever had fresh spring rolls in a Thai restaurant before and it was the mention of pork sausage and crab that piqued my curiosity. The skins are much like the ones you wrap Peking duck in and inside is a jumble of bean sprouts, pork sausage, tofu and crab meat. Yes the crab’s texture is just like the stuff from a tin but overall it’s pretty decent, even if the sweet tamarind sauce dominated all the other flavours.
Once finished, I still had a hankering for something sweet and for the table to be cleared after about fifteen minutes had passed. Strangely the two girls running the floor were sat at a table having their own lunch, preoccupied and only getting up when someone wanted to pay or the kitchen called for food delivery. I helped myself to the dessert menu, a choice of four dishes, and ordered a couple of them. Coconut ice cream with sticky rice was pretty standard. Basically vanilla ice cream topped with coconut cream and some fairly dry sticky rice. My lod chong was a little more interesting. Boiled pandan noodles drowned in sweet coconut milk and ice cubes to cool it all down. Quite soupy but refreshing all ’round.
With the rain still bucketing outside, it was a very soppy and wet journey home.
{ 15 comments… read them below or add one }
It’s always nice to know that there’s other Thai dishes to eat rather than tom yum soup, green curry and fish cakes (although I admit I love eating them anyways). What a great little find! All the dishes look beautifully presented. I just love the use of colours.
I love Thai street food! Look like a great place to check out, as I too find the inner city ones full of “typical” and “same same” Thai dishes. Nice one John!
Always love your photos, John. The labels just add to them. The food all looks yummy, but I’d particularly like to try the yum hoy nang rom – the lemongrass, coriander, etc. with oysters sounds gorgeous.
Really like the feel of this place – nice decor.
A shame the coconut ice-cream was just vanilla with coconut on top. An ice cream made with coconut cream sounds much nicer on the menu I think..
I don’t think I’ve ever eaten in Strathfield – I always thought I’d end up there to try Korean…but this Thai does look delish.
Everything shown here just makes my mouth water…and I just ate dinner. What a great way to get out of the house!
The fresh spring rolls look like the ones at Chat Thai, and I like those.
I don’t think I’ve had Thai fresh spring rolls either. The oysters look amazing.
I have not had Thai in forever – and those fresh spring rolls look and sound exactly what I feel like.
I’m also a fan of Thai restaurants that have other options on the menu than those tailored to the Australian palate. I hardly get out to Strathfield, sounds like a walk around there might be in my future.
We have fresh spring rolls at our local Thai place. I just assumed they were mixing cuisines, maybe not.
I had actually just been there for dinner and wanted to write this review, I had papaya salad with soft shell crab, it looked very nice but when I had that papaya it was very tough to chew as I asked one of the waitress that the papaya was very tough to chew and I asked her to replace the dish with something else but she refused and said we haven’t had any complains so far today, that was just not acceptable and when she said she couldn’t replace it with anything I asked her if I could have a word with her manager then she replied me that the manager wasn’t there, and i asked her whats the managers name but she refused to give me the managers name as well, this is bad customer service i was really dissapointed, the waitress didnt even apologised and kept on mumbling in her own language, the experience that I had was shocking, I love to try new places to eat but I will never go back to that place which cannot deliver good foods and good service. Bangkok snap its a shame.
Hi Sajal, thanks for your lengthy comment. Are you aware that the papaya used in such salads is the raw and green variety, hence being “tougher” than the ripe fruit?
Hi John, thank you for your comment, I know the papaya used in such salads are raw and I have made this salad and I know what goes in it, hence the fruit was very tough to chew, i know the fruit is used raw and it is one of my favourite dish i have had this in a lot of different thai restaurants and it is a dish i would never miss if i got eat thai. And what bout the customer service it was very rude way to speak to a customer in that manner. I was not happy and I would never go back.
Hi Sajal, pity about the customer service. I can only assume you’ve emailed the restaurant as well, rather than just venting on my website. If you haven’t, I suggest you do. They need to know.