LOCATIONOn the restaurant strip of North Hobart, just up from the State Cinema.
PROFILED BY DE GROOTS MEDIA Vanidol’s sits on North Hobart’s restaurant strip and despite its tough competition, is tremendously popular with Hobartian foodies. Tonight we’ve booked ahead to ensure a table. A happy buzz greets us as we enter the long room – it’s 7.00 pm and the restaurant is filling up. Our smiling waitress leads us to a cosy booth and hands us the menus that have humble beginnings.
Vanidol Lulitanond’s success story began at a small take-away in the CBD which then doubled as a florist and spice shop, before reaching its current award-winning status. Van, as he is affectionately called, is a gentle smiling man who hails from Thailand. His brilliance in the kitchen has made his food so popular that he has opened a second restaurant, Infusion, in South Hobart.
Vanidol’s specialises in Thai, Indonesian and Indian cuisine, but it’s the Thai that takes first place. It’s tangy, fresh, and full of crunchy vegetables with seafood making up a large portion of the selection.
We decide to take our tastebuds on an Asian adventure and mix and match cuisines, Beginning with Indonesian-style laksa, the spiced soup is rich and golden with crunchy green beans, red capsicum, tofu, and fresh coriander floating between its fat, filling noodles. For mains, we share pad Thai which carries a delicate lemon and herb tang and is textured with succulent flat noodles, tender chicken, and crunchy vegetables. One of our party is devoted to Vanidol’s pad Thai and it's easy to see why he orders it time and again. Indonesian rendang daging and from the Indian selection, the Nepalese lamb curry make for richer and more heated contrasts, especially the beef rendang with its feisty sprinkling of bird’s eye chillies. Surprisingly, it doesn’t take the roof off our mouths, and is delicious mixed with raita and a carrot and apple garnish.
Desserts tempt us with the sweet and decadent. The ‘real hot chocolate’ (made from melted chocolate) is a rich finale to such a spectacular meal, while the sour and cool lemon-lime cheesecake with passionfruit coulis is a perfect post-curry treat.
Merridy Anne Pugh