Mudjimba Thai restaurant Baan Mai opens

A sleepy Sunshine Coast suburb’s community is enjoying the opening of a brand new Thai restaurant which has been completely booked out in its first few weeks.

Baan Mai owners Dom Stefanatos, Somkid Nammanong and Jagtar Singh with some signature Thai dishes. Picture: Sam Turner

A booming new Thai restaurant has opened in the sleepy suburb of Mudjimba with its residents coming in droves in its first weeks of trading.

Hungry customers have flocked to the newly opened Baan Mai with its signature yelling neon sign signalling the beginning of a tasty new venue.

Owners Dom Stefanatos, his partner Somkid Nammanong and colleague Jagtar Singh said they were impressed with the reception from the community.

“On that opening night we were swamped with people,” Mr Stefanatos said.

“It was a bit overwhelming those few days … we’ve had lots of good reviews already.”

Baan Mai owners Dom Stefanatos, Somkid Nammanong and Jagtar Singh. Picture: Sam Turner

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The trio, with decades of cooking experience between them, was drawn to Mudjimba due to the practicality of the shopfront.

Ms Nammanong said the group had plans for a cafe but agreed the position and the allure of a Thai restaurant was a better opportunity.

Mr Stefanatos and his partner come from cooking backgrounds and had moved to the Sunshine Coast from Victoria almost a decade ago after working in restaurants.

In recent times Mr Stefanatos had been working in the culinary game with Mr Singh at Lemon and Thyme Restaurant Mooloolaba which closed five months ago.

The trio went back to work after this, Mr Stefanatos in grounds keeping and Ms Nammanong and Mr Singh as hospital staff, until they came together for Baan Mai in November.

Baan Mai owners Dom Stefanatos, Somkid Nammanong and Jagtar Singh have enjoyed the first few weeks of opening their new restaurant. Picture: Sam Turner

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Since their opening, Mr Stefanatos said the owners had enjoyed return customers.

“It’s exciting to be here as we’re able to build relationships with people and we’ve had them return two to three times now, so it feels like we’ve done the right thing,” he said.

Their inspiration for their menu stems from their love for Thai cuisine and meals they loved to cook at home which includes traditional wok rice meals, curries, salads along with vegetarian and gluten free options.

They currently employ six workers but were on the hunt for more as they’d like to begin food deliveries as well as lunch trading.

Baan Mai is located at shop 5/160 Mudjimba Beach Rd and is open Tuesday to Sunday from 5pm.