Catfish, Ballarat: restaurant review

The chef at Catfish in Ballarat has a rare affinity with Thai food; it’s a great start, but this man aims higher.

TWAM 23 April 2016

Here we are again and, as always, he’s there too. It’s my sixth time at Catfish, give or take a curry or two, and the proprietor is behind the counter, head-down, furrowed brow, cooking. As usual. The skipper of his own glowing, brothel-red ship.

It’s not hard to stand out if you’re any good in a regional city, but this place is a big fish in the small pond of Ballarat dining. It’s no accident. Damien Jones has a rare affinity with Thai food (he learned at Nahm in London); that’s a great start, but it’s not enough. You also need an audience to appreciate it – one that understands the difference between house-made coconut cream and canned, for example, and is prepared to pay more for it. You need good staff, and that can be a problem outside the big cities; and you also need to work awfully hard if you’re not made of money.

In this age of private equity-backed restaurant groups, expensive fit-outs and slim margins, that old-fashioned thing – the chef-owned-and-operated restaurant with the boss actually cooking – is a delight to see done well. Jones does it well.

The menu at Catfish changes each week. Picture: Jesse Marlow

And where Catfish might have been a collection of Thai greatest hits, the chef aims higher. His route means time-consuming pastes and methods (like that coconut cream); it means quality ingredients, and lots of them; it means a menu that changes each week, exploring a multi-dimensional cuisine. It means serious prices and a smart wine list to round out the offer.

Catfish might easily have been a square peg. But despite a modest level of amenity (this is a more dash-than-cash renovation) it’s home to some of the best Thai food you’ll find in Australia.

Watermelon arrives with betel leaves and that peculiar, salty chilli sugar eaten on the street in Bangkok with fruit. You don’t see it often in Australia.

Jones avoids Thai names for his dishes; but his version of the classic appetiser ma haw (pictured), from “Street Food” – tart wafers of fresh pineapple topped with an impossibly dark/sweet/savoury palm sugar toffee of minced chicken and dried prawn, garlic, fried shallot, pepper, crushed peanuts and fish sauce – is perfect. Better than Nahm’s.

From “Salads” a jumble of smoky grilled Wagyu slices with leaves and fine shallot, tomato and Thai coriander is dusted with toasted ground rice; it’s less limey, less chilli-whacked than your typical yum nuer and the better for it. In fact, most of Catfish’s food is subtle rather than overt with chilli, whether dried or fresh.

Jasmine rice comes in a handsome pot with timber spatula. Most of the little details, like crockery and glasses, are done stylishly in the same vein; waitstaff step up to the mark, too.

A “northern” curry of chopped quail and bamboo shoot is light in texture, slightly sour, beguilingly powerful with betel leaf cooked through the “broth”; the “Chiang Mai” curry of poached, shredded chicken is richer in texture and sweeter yet still with some tartness, thanks to whole shallots and pieces of quince, a first for me in a curry and particularly good.

And stir-fried Thai (green-ish) pumpkin with fried shallot, kaffir lime, fresh and cooked holy basil and chilli jam sits on a dressing of coconut cream. All this food has the kind of olfactory and palate complexity that only comes with laborious preparation.

For me, there is less impact in a citrus-cured, minty, gingery kingfish “relish” with lots of lemongrass and fruity cape gooseberries; but it does come with caramel-sticky pork hock, fried shallots and a pork crackling wafer, which helps.

Add a good riesling and, well…

I love that Ballarat supports Catfish. I love that Jones has ignored the path of least resistance. And I love a good chef-operated restaurant.Catfish is triple therapy.

Catfish, Ballarat

Address: 42-44 Main Road, Bakery Hill, Ballarat

Phone: [phone]

Web: catfishthai.com.au

Hours: Dinner Tue-Sat

Typical prices: Small dishes $17; large $30; dessert $15.5

Summary: Don’t let this one get away

Like this? Try… Magic Mountain Saloon, Melbourne; Itsara, Perth

Stars out of five: 4