CAXTON THAI
Brisbane, Queensland

LOCATION Caxton Street, just five minutes from the City. PROFILED BY DE GROOTS MEDIA Here we are again, blissfully seated in our low-key dinner attire, mulling over dishes from the north, south and in-between provinces of Thailand. Caxton Thai is a food kingdom – it creates the banquet, and you supply the folks and beverages. Humble beginnings are forbidden, so launch into a scrumptious plate of Thai fish cakes or pungently-spiced vegetarian curry puffs. The restaurant will also have you practising your spoon and chopstick skills on its spicy seafood soup or king prawn Laksa, both created the homemade way. Try the gaeng panaeng; an immensely flavoursome dry curry which sees a reduced sauce sticking to juicy, rich duck meat. This Thai restaurant also does a deserving Massaman beef curry – spoonfuls of creamy, spicy goodness. One chef specialty, the Caxton Thai salad, sees spicy chicken and prawns jumbled between streamers of glass noodles, flavoured by sweet and sour lemongrass and lime and coupled with the heat of fresh chilli for a delicious finish. Further notable dishes would have to include stir-fried pork chops with chilli, basil, mushroom and garlic and the gai pad bai Kaprow – chicken with sweet basil. The prices are modest, the service is sharp and the food is dependably good. Katharine Chapman