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R.Harn

A Southern Thai diner by the Soi 38 team.

Emma Breheny

Khanom jeen (rice noodles with curry and condiments).
1 / 9Khanom jeen (rice noodles with curry and condiments).Supplied
Walls feature plates used for Lunar New Year celebrations by families in Thailand.
2 / 9Walls feature plates used for Lunar New Year celebrations by families in Thailand.Luis Enrique Ascui
Crispy fried sea bass with fish sauce.
3 / 9Crispy fried sea bass with fish sauce.Supplied
Prawn pad mee.
4 / 9Prawn pad mee.Supplied
Southern Thai gaeng som (sour and spicy fish curry).
5 / 9Southern Thai gaeng som (sour and spicy fish curry).Supplied
Khao kluk kapi (shrimp paste fried rice) with pork, Chinese sausage and more.
6 / 9Khao kluk kapi (shrimp paste fried rice) with pork, Chinese sausage and more.Supplied
Por pia sot pu (fresh spring roll) with butterfly pea and lime juice.
7 / 9Por pia sot pu (fresh spring roll) with butterfly pea and lime juice.Supplied
Khao yum (southern Thai rice salad) with green mango and nam budu dressing.
8 / 9Khao yum (southern Thai rice salad) with green mango and nam budu dressing. Supplied
Crab meat and betel leaf curry.
9 / 9Crab meat and betel leaf curry.Luis Enrique Ascui

Thai$

Southern Thai food rules at the second restaurant by the Soi 38 team, found just opposite Melbourne Central station. Find comfort in crab fried rice and hokkien mee noodles, vibrant texture and colour in salads such as khao yum, and deeply savoury flavours in kanom jeen, the curry and rice noodle dish that’s a hallmark of coastal Thai cooking.

The long dinner menu is full of complementary dishes to be eaten banquet-style. There’s whole deep-fried pomfret, stir-fried cabbage with plump dried shrimp sourced especially from Thailand, and aromatic soups. Curries are a focus, with six choices ranging from “really intense” to “really light” but all of them emphasise fresh seafood.

Drinkswise, you can get Thai milk tea and thirst-quenchers like a lime drink with butterfly pea flower extract.

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Emma BrehenyEmma BrehenyEmma is Good Food’s Melbourne eating out and restaurant editor and editor of The Age Good Food Guide.

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Original URL: https://www.theage.com.au/goodfood/melbourne-eating-out/grab-seafood-forward-dishes-in-the-cbd-at-this-southern-thai-diner-by-the-soi-38-team-20250701-p5mbm8.html