Review: Thai Pothong, Newtown

I was on a dinner date last night, and OH MY GOD it was delicious. Well, I mean, it would have to be because this post was originally going to be dedicated to Machiavelli on Clarence St, but a last minute change of mind had us heading over to Newtown instead.

This was my 3rd visit to Thai Pothong, and the place so far has never disappointed. The place has probably one of the best service around. The picture above was the Red Pumpkin Curry (with Beef) - $17.90 which JL chose, and boy...woo, it was nommilicious to say the least. The beef was nice and tender, with a bit of pink inside, the pumpkin was soft, but not falling apart all over the sauce and retained its shape. The mild curry was satisfyingly spicy but sweet and creamy at the same time, and went beautifully with the aromatic Thai Jasmine Rice. I could devour that plate by myself had it not been the two other additions to our table.

Thai Spicy Chicken Salad (Laab Gai) - $17.90
With all that curry on the table, I just had to order something that had a different flavour to cut through the creaminess. This salad did exactly that with brilliance. Kind of like Ronaldo's goal. Actually I don't know how the two link, but having to wake up at 4am this morning to watch the game with JL means that that's pretty much all I'm hearing right now as I'm typing this.

The salad had a nice tang. Some places go a little overboard with the lime juice and sometimes it can make your stomach feel a little uncomfortable. But not this one. Thai Pothong has it covered. The heat was just right for me, but I'm not much of a heat-taker. It's definitely spicier than the curry we had, and I think it had a 2 leaf rating (out of 3) for its heat-rating on the menu.

Sadly, this brings me to my last addition. A dish which I have always had on every visit to this place. Despite this, the Steamed Mixed Seafood (Hor Mok Talay) - $26.90 still has me enthralled everytime I see the waiters carry the dish out. It's a flambé dish, and still in its flambé state as it comes out.

It's literally ON FIRE.

Yes, you heard me right.

And a pyromaniac like me LIKES IT ON FIRE.

And it's also why I don't have a picture of it.

Seeing a dish on fire makes me forget things. I'm new to this whole taking massive camera to a restaurant snapping business, so you'll just have to imagine it.

Oh and why I didn't take a picture of it after they got rid of the fire? Well you see...it's a steamed yellow curry with coconut milk, the consistency of which reminds you of....use your imagination here

It was delicious nevertheless. And I would order it over and over again. The consistency of the curry in your mouth is somewhat like that of steamed egg, but the dish is so wonderfully flavoured that the sauce simultaneously takes in the flavour of the seafood whilst having its own flavours soak into the seafood.

We nommed it like it's hot.

Thai Pothong
294 King St, Newtown NSW 2042
Tel: (02) 9519 8050