Smile Thai Cuisine - North Melbourne

Visited Smile Thai by chance as I wandered around Melbourne. The choices are varied and looked flavorful. I settled for satay beef, chicken, and seafood skewers, all doused with peanut sauce and all very yummy although the serving size is just right. I downed this with a cup of plain rice.

After a long day we fancied some Thai takeaway and this place was right around the corner - they estimated 15 mins and the food was ready in more like 12 - good food and good service, even with the trainee on the till!

Found Smile Thai through a Groupon Voucher so decided to give it a try. Checked out all of the reviews which indicated the one area they struggled with was with the service but since we were not in a hurry this was not a big deal. When we got there the restaurant was surprisingly empty with only 2 tables occupied. (not a good sign). Undeterred we chose a table outside and enjoyed watching the world go by.We ordered the mixed entrée to share, a massaman curry beef (sous-vide slow cooked), a prawn pad thai and some rice.Service was good at this point with the mixed entrée coming out relatively quickly. The curry puffs and spring rolls were good but the wontons were about a few seconds from being burnt. Not to worry. Unfortunately we had only finished the entrees a few seconds before the mains came out (can’t complain about the service I suppose). This is where things went downhill.The massaman beef was interesting. I now know that sous-vide means cooking the meat in a vacuum bag and being placed in a hot water bath. Interesting for Thai; the problem is that it came as chunks of meat sitting on top of the massaman sauce and vegies and just had the flavour of cooked steak. As for slow cooked, it was not tender. Then came the prawn pad thai. We did ask for extra vegies which looked pretty tired but the prawns were only partly cooked. A no no for any restaurant. At this point we lost our appetite for the rest of the food.When the table was cleared some time later, we mentioned the prawns only to get a “oh sorry about that” with no suggestion that they replace the meal or forgo the charge. Couldn’t be bothered arguing at this stage, and we didn’t see the waiter again.I think the best indication of how this restaurant is travelling is that all of the eateries in the area were full of locals and Smile Thai had about 3-4 customers throughout our stay. Enough said.

Prices of the dishes are competitive like any other restaurants but the size of the dish is on the small side.Tom yum soup came in an extremely small bowl. Would have been better to have been in a bigger bowl which makes easier eating. No need to give more ingredients but maybe a little more soup and the bigger bowl gives more space.The lamb massaman was the shock. The dish came with ONE piece of slab. Not pieces of lamb. Like eating a slab of steak without knife. We had to cut up this slab with our fork and spoon to share the pieces.The mixed entrée is OK. Nothing outstanding. Friendly girl serving but these only her so she was very busy doing everything even the take aways.Food came out fairly quick enough.Overall OK. Not fantastic but OK for a quick simple bite however a little on the pricey side for what it is.

Ended up here on a whim, given we were starving and couldn't wait any longer and left feeling very satisfied. We sat at the front window which provided a nice view of watching the world go by while having plenty of space in which to moves plates around to share. The roti bread was generous and the all important peanut sauce a winner. The acoustics aren't great so it was hard not to hear other's conversations, but as long as you kept talking it didn't bother. We had a satay vege main along with a curry and both were lovely. I guess nothing that will blow your socks off but nothing below par either...so a Thai place where you get what you'd expect and hope for. Pricing it's very good and wines by the glass matching the food. All up a restaurant with nice staff, nice food and nice pricing!