SA Weekend restaurant review: Regent Thai, O’Connell St in North Adelaide
The husband-and-wife team behind this suburban eatery give the cooking a welcome authentic edge, writes Simon Wilkinson.
SA Weekend
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Midway through dinner at Regent Thai, as the first beads of perspiration form on my brow, a thoughtful waitress materialises to top up water and spoon out more rice.
Which proves two points. First: I have the heat tolerance of a double-scoop ice cream in the Arizona desert. And second: This surprising family-run restaurant in North Adelaide is at the top of its game.
Yes, surprising. On first appearances, Regent Thai seems similar to many other suburban eateries that stick to the safety-first formula of curries (green/red/yellow), stir-fries and noodles. The difference is that, rather than bending to the perceived preferences of local diners, particularly for extra sweetness, the cooks here are prepared to back their own judgment. Try the stunning red duck curry and you will see what I mean.
Credit for this rests with co-owner and chef Sanom Nglamai, who has been quietly running the business with husband Thao Te for more than 20 years.
Sanom comes from the region of Ayutthaya, north of Bangkok, and learnt her kitchen skills at the hip of her mother and grandmother. And now she is handing down that knowledge like a treasured heirloom to the next generation in son Kevin, who works beside her each day.
Compared with the bright lights of its restaurant neighbours at the top end of O’Connell Street, the elegant signage for Regent Thai is positively demure.
The subdued theme continues inside. There are none of the splashes of chilli red or coriander green of the contemporary Asian diner. All colour is confined to the plate. Instead, this is a refined, almost monochromatic space, notable for the elaborate black screens and pair of life-size statues that welcome diners near the door. Tables are covered in white cloths, then a paper sheet. Carpet is underfoot.
The main menu, presented in a plastic-sleeved folder, ticks off the familiar favourites from spring rolls to green curry to pad thai, with a few yums and larbs for good measure. An extra sheet of “Regent Specials” is where the real fun lies.
That’s where you will find “miang”, the aromatic snack in which a fresh betel leaf is used to bring together a variety of contrasting components like strangers on a bus. This version features Spencer Gulf prawn meat curled up on a base of diced lemongrass and shallot, and scattered with shreds of toasted coconut. A house-made chilli jam and slice of fresh chilli provide a tickle of heat. The balance is electric.
The same goes for a dressing of fish sauce, shrimp paste, palm sugar and lime, smashed up in a special, extra deep mortar, then tossed through a shredded papaya salad that also includes carrot, halved cherry tomatoes, roasted peanuts, and more wedges of lime. Between the crunching and the occasional pucker, it will have your mouth doing gymnastics.
Pork larb tones down the acid, using lemon, and introduces the earthy heat of a house-made toasted chilli powder that lingers in the background like the glowing coals in a fireplace. The minced meat is tossed with ground rice, onion, mint and other herbs, then loaded into lettuce leaves that can be used to make a parcel.
A medley of seafood in what is meant to be a hot, peppery sauce is the one dish to miss the mark. While a big sprig of green peppercorns is used for display, none of its prickly flavour is evident in a pool of strangely sweet brown liquid. And the quality of the calamari (especially), scallops and mussels used are no match for the prawns.
But that red duck curry is a wonderful thing. It starts with the duck which is roasted in the Regent Thai kitchen rather than bought in from Chinatown as is often the case elsewhere. A small bowl is packed with boneless and skinless pieces of leg and breast meat in a sauce with an appealing undercurrent of tamarind sourness and properly infused chilli. Fresh pineapple and cherry tomatoes add their own little burst of acidity but the real secret is the restrained use of coconut milk that in greater quantities would make the curry cloying. Instead, it holds such intrigue and symphonic layers of flavour it is hard to leave alone. Even as the heat slowly builds and the body chemistry takes over …
Thank heavens perfectly ripe slices of early-season mango and a scoop of house-made coconut sorbet are effective at dousing the fire. Otherwise our helpful waitress might have to bring us a bucket of water.