Foodie Friday takes a look at Thai cuisine on Sydney’s northern beaches

Pad Thai or green chicken curry? Foodie Friday does the hard work and finds three of your favourite Thai restaurants.

Nathasak Sithiwongsarat and Sanya Noiwangkhang with Manly Thai Gourmet’s popular banana blossom salad.

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The days when the local Thai restaurant was a ‘Thai-kea” clone, cookie-cut from the same template, have long gone.

Betel leaves at Manly Thai Gourmet.

Monkey King is a shining example of the sleek and modern Thai. It has 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 is in Lindfield.) Monkey King has a punchy, mod-Thai menu with a mix of nicely presented classics, Aussie fusion dishes, house specials, street food and trendy cocktails.

Monkey King’s mussaman curry is a must have. 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.

Massaman lamb cutlets from Monkey King Thai.

One small arcade right in the centre of Manly hides a local secret. The Pacific Point Arcade is home to Manly Thai Gourmet. This unpretentious and unlicensed Thai has customers queuing for lunch and waiting for tables at night.

Since opening in 2008, chefs and co-owners, Nat ­Sithiwongsarat and Sam Noiwangkhang have established a dedicated following with their well-priced food.

The banana flower salad is one of the restaurant’s go-to dishes. The signature dish is a royal favourite, co-owner Mr Noiwangkhang said.

“People like that we have more unusual dishes on the menu. The banana flower salad is one of them. You don’t see it on many menus. It’s from the royal kitchens.”

Next Balance Thai Restaurant and the penang prawn curry.

Next Balance Thai in Balgowlah Stockland continues that balancing act of blending traditional Thai flavours and east-meets-west fusion food since opening in 2012.

Its dinner menu has Peking duck pancakes, as well as chilli jam soft-shelled crab topped with a mild chilli jam sauce, shallot, onion and sliced red chilli and popular beef dish crying tiger. The medium-rare young rump is served with ground chilli, Thai herbs, ground, roasted rice and chilli-lime dressing.

Monkey King Thai

335 Barrenjoey Rd, Newport, 9997 3450

Manly Thai Gourmet

Shop 6 Pacific Point Arcade, 4-10 Sydney Rd, Manly, 9977 0990

Next Balance Thai

Shop 68, Stockland Balgowlah, 197 Condamine St, Balgowlah, 8084f 8287