Chef’s Brother (the Pastry Chef) introduced us to this fantastic little Thai Restaurant a couple of years ago. At the time he was living in an apartment opposite. I get the feeling that the people living this quiet end of Joondalup are keeping Lion Thai a closely guarded secret. Anyone I’ve ever known to have been there has always lived nearby.
We’ve had take-away from Lion Thai numerous times. This time we’d decided to dine in, with the lovely Mr and Mrs S (who had never heard of Lion Thai). Mr S loves Thai food and rates a venue by how well they can replicate his favourite “Phanang Curry”. We started with a couple of appetisers spring rolls and prawn toast. They were delish. The Prawn Toast in particular was excellent – (basically garlic prawn stuck to some fried bread!!) Yummo.
For mains the 4 of us shared;
* Phanang Curry – Thai curry with coconut milk, lime leaves and fresh chilli
* Peanut Beef – beef & veg in peanut sauce
* Garlic Pork – Pork with Thai spices, garlic and pepper
* Scallops basil chilli – scallops with fresh chilli, onion, capsicum and basil leaves.
The Penang curry was a hit with us all, especially Mr S. All the food is super fresh, with lots of veggies, so I feel like I’m eating something relatively healthy. At about $50 a couple it was also good value. The service is friendly, fast and attentive; the surrounds are very pleasant too.
One thing I also love about Lion Thai is that there is no added MGS to their food. I found I have a bad reaction to this nasty food additive, which is upsetting, as I now steer clear of one of my favourite cuisines – Chinese. So my mind is at ease that I won’t get that dreaded MSG migraine. Lion Thai is also BYO, they do have soft drink on sale. It’s a bit cliché – but this is truly a “hidden gem”. We all said we’d be back soon; I’m looking forward to it already.
