Dining review: Monkey King brings Thai to Newport on Sydney’s northern beaches
Monkey King Thai brings contemporary Thai food to Newport.
Nth Beaches
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Gone are the days when the local Thai restaurant was a “Thai-kea” clone, cookie-cut from the same template. Not any more.
Monkey King is a shining example of the sleek and modern Thai. It’s been plucked straight from the pages of Modern Restaurant Design with its bentwood chairs, raised tables and bar stools, bare brick walls and exposed light bulbs.
The man behind this busy suburban Thai is Top K. Jitrakthaipakdee, or Top K.J. for short, who opened his second Monkey King last August. The original Monkey King is in Lindfield.
Monkey King has a punchy mod-Thai menu with a mix of nicely presented classics, Aussie-influenced fusion dishes, house specials, street food and even trendy cocktails. It’s BYO, but lychee caprioska, made with palm sugar, has become a bit of a tropical crowd-pleaser.
Duck dishes — particularly the one which comes with plum sauce — crispy soft-shelled crab, green papaya salad and massaman lamb cutlets are hugely popular with Newport customers.
They’re on our radar, too. Our order on a busy Friday night includes the green papaya salad with crispy pork belly from the street food menu, duck delight and one of the massaman curries.
The green papaya salad with its carrot strips, flecks of chilli and lemon dressing, comes with crispy chunks of pork belly. It balances that sweet, sour, hot and salty flavour combo and contrasts nicely with our creamy coconutty curry.
Monkey King’s kitchen serves its rich southern Thai massaman curry with beef, duck or marinated lamb cutlets for a modern Australian take on this classic dish.
We stick with the traditional beef curry and its accompaniment of baby potatoes and cashews.
And what a cracker it is. Often massaman curry can be cloyingly sweet, but not this one. Monkey King’s slow-cooked chuck beef is prepared with coconut milk and cream and a delicious panoply of spices including palm sugar, cinnamon sticks, star anise and concentrated tamarind sauce.
The meat falls apart and it is delicious. Try it with a roti instead of rice.
Monkey King is definitely winning over the locals with its traditional dishes and new twists on old staples. It’s fun, funky and the flavours are fresh. Top stuff, Top.
Twitter: @beverley_hudec
ESSENTIALS
Monkey King Thai Restaurant, 335 Barrenjoey Rd, Newport
Phone: 9997 3450
Open: Seven days. Lunch, 11am-3pm; dinner from 5.30pm, last orders 9.30pm
Go for: massaman beef, $18.90; crispy soft-shelled crab, $17.90; $9.90 lunch deals
Vibe: Thai-rrific
BYO: wine only, $3 a head corkage
Bottom line: $77.60 for two
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