Cool Thai

LOCATION
North Hobart café strip.

PROFILED BY DE GROOTS
Cool Thai squeezes between the pharmacy and the Flight Centre on North Hobart’s café strip. This tiny business of only 16 seats has been operating for 10 years now and been busy the entire time with diners eating inside the cosy restaurant, or flocking in for evening take away.

We’re dropping in for a quick meal before a movie at the State Cinema, and manage to catch the last empty table. It’s order at the counter and help yourself to water and utensils. The kitchen beyond is a hive of activity. All dishes are cooked fresh – no reheating here. A few couples and a nuclear family are already enjoying their meals. The traffic for after-work take away is constant.

Cool Thai prices are cheap and you get plenty of flavour for your dollar. Al your favourite and classic Thai dishes are on the menu but beware of the chilli – it can be explosive. Dishes are graded in hotness out of three little red chillies, so pay attention if your tastebuds are sensitive.

Flaky curry puffs parcels are stuffed with chicken and make a tasty starter tonight. Our mains are the crowd pleasers; green chicken curry, pad Thai, laksa, and Hokkien spicy noodles. The latter are three-chillies strong and a challenge met with much puffing and mopping of brows. The flavours still manage to seep through despite the heat, and every noodle is consumed. The pad Thai and golden laksa are comparatively mild, the green chicken somewhere in between. Plenty of fresh vegies make the dishes colourful and crunchy, including lots of those healthy cruciferous types. We leave feeling satisfied, almost-virtuous, and with still-plump wallets.

Merridy Anne Pugh