Atom Thai, King Street, Newtown - Sydney NSW

The Miang Kham, a delicate appetiser with betel nut a the star.

Texture, taste and twist - is that what we anticipate in any cuisine? Perhaps we also appreciate the clever and subtle use of ingredients, how they blend together in the dish presented to us and how they make an impact on our palate and overall dining experience. Some city centre establishments face constant pressure on space, costs and turnover. Some may take short cuts in pre cooking some of their menu items but such a practice can impact on a discerning diner.  The variety of multi-cultural items on the food scene in Australia means customers may compare with their experiences from traditional settings back in the source countries.  The subtleties of ingredients produced in Australia can make a difference.  Some resort to experimentation and fusion, thereby bringing diners a new dimension and a whole new world of possibilities.  Some diners do not care so much for the food as the quality and flow of the drinks and company.  Some relax because the staff make them feel mellow and others can be highly strung sparked off by one perceived or actual attitude.  All food establishments want regulars to come back, to yearn for their signature items, to spend on their high margin menu dishes and to more than just survive in a fast changing and demanding business environment.

Sago in coconut milk on the glass with ice cream (foreground) with black glutinous rice accompanying mango slices (background)

Atom Thai does not have too many dining tables but is adequately sized in space-conscious Newtown precinct of the greater Sydney area.   The demographics are ready to eat, there are out of towners who come to Newtown occasionally to have a night or day out and the variety of restaurants just means competition for the dollar in the pocket.  I had a birthday treat from a  close cousin and family there recently - and enjoyed three specific dishes: salmon with papaya salad, the Miang Kham and the appetising belly pork stir fried with a relish.  Miang Kham is a uniquely Thai entree that blends a bit of salad, a bit of appetiser and a bit of dash. It can be viewed as an exotic Thai experience, but growing up in Penang island, where there is a sizeable but minority population of Thai origin, this isa familiar item to me.  The best version of this snack to me is home made but it can be found readily in any street market in any Thai conurbation. Kham means to bite and Miang refers to items wrapped in a leaf. Ingredients like ginger, garlic, small dried shrimps (hay bee in the Penang Hokkien parlance), roasted peanuts, roasted coconut shavings, red hot bird's eye chill, shallots are prepared and gathered before the folding process.  The origin of this item suggests a fusion base as the recipe came form an area bordering between Thailand and Burma.  It is popular for festive occasions and fairs, and has variations in Laos and you may have sen its cousin, the Miang Pla, with fish inside, if you have been backpacking in upper South East Asia.

Salmon with papaya salad beside the tasty pork belly (background) and the duck curry (foreground)

Staff are smiling and friendly at Atom,  with the place filling up fast by 630pm on a Sunday evening.
Located at the western end of King Street, nearer to Sydney University campus, it is one of several Thai cuisine outlets in this varied part of Sydney.  An interesting observation about Atom is the absence of overloads of  sugary tastes in their savoury dishes, something which Thai outlets in Australian suburbia has a potential and real risk of.  The clientele that evening we were at Atom was predominantly Caucasian, but of all ages.  I noticed the quality of the ingredients and the care with which each dish was served.  Although I am not  a big fan of glutinous rice, I enjoyed the bite of their steamed black rice dessert, accompanied by a tangy mango.   Thai cooking plays on the diversity of herbs and spices and the challenge is to get a balanced and yet interesting sensation for the diner.

Newtown Revisited - Sydney NSW

Newtown, a fifteen minute ride by train from Sydney city centre, lies at the nexus of university, bohemian, alternative and happy day twenty something lifestyles.  Saturday morning and the tribes come out.  Students, artists, young families, musicians, couples of every orientation, gig followers and more have hallmark moments as they commence a weekend of possibilities. Wardrobe is casual and to identify oneself with a certain crowd. The pace is easy, often filled with the aroma of coffee, unusual shopping choices and a body mark here and there, be it a tattoo or a nose ring. The day may progress to a street market, music from buskers or the intent concentration on music, books or movies.  The Whitlams had a great start at the Sandringham Hotel here before they conquered the world.

Newtown has just celebrated its first 150 years.  It is now more diverse, dynamic and interesting than it has ever been before.  Many buildings are or may seem run down, but there have been renovations inside, as old gives way to the new, or sits side by side.  Murals, wall graffiti and grubby lanes add to the character and fun.  Ethnic food can easily be easy to find as modern Australian and fusion inspirations. Victorian mansions still exist if we take our eyes way from the distractions on the streets.  These are mostly sited towards the University of Sydney side of Newtown.   Below photo shows the Trocadero, restored in 2007 (left of picture).

One of my delightful places is to spend breakky at the Campos Cafe in Missenden Road (photo above In December 2012).  King Street is the main foodie strip but there are around 600 shops in this precinct of Newtown.  John and Eliza Webster opened a business called New Town Stores and the name of a suburb took its cue.  Almost forty percent of the demographics here were born overseas, especially those speaking Greek, Mandarin, Cantonese, Spanish and Thai.  Interesting enough , Newtown  is split in governance under the Sydney and Marrickville councils.

My other fav drop bys along King Street in Newtown itself and neighbouring Enmore:
The Flying Penguin
Spencer Guthrie
Black Star Pastry
Foodarama
Better Read Than Dead Bookshop
Square Peg Studios
Cafe Deli 242
Ziapis
Moo Woo Cow
Organic Pomegranate Cafe
Grub and Tucker
Cow &The Moon (Enmore)

Chedi Thai, Newtown, Sydney

The Chedi Thai Restaurant is located at at the western end of King Street in the inner Sydney city suburb of Newtown, not far from the junction of King and Messinden  Streets.  It is close to the Sydney University campus cohort. Ely and Ray organised a lunch there on a recent Saturday when the Newtown markets were held. The diverse and interesting suburb of Newtown is 150 years old.  Here are my impressions of the several dishes we tried from a cuisine which I reckoned is more southern than northern Thai, more Phuket and Hatyai than Chiangmai or Bangkok.  It is a spacious restaurant, in contrast to several Thai food venues in the Chinatown precinct of Sydney CBD.

My top choice goes to the barramundi filleted pieces topped by a green mango salad (photo above) - the flavours mix and complement each other readily and remind one of sitting on the beach facing the Andaman Sea, immersing in the fresh seafood sensations and surrounded by the aromas of tropical fruits, herbs and vegetables.

Crispy pork with chili and basil - this was my most tasty dish that afternoon, with a crunchiness and bite of chili heat that offers the best of both southern Chinese and authentic Thai essentials. The various garnishing items add an extra dimension to the overall fusion sensation.

Fresh coconut juice served in a natural and organic container - the coconut itself. Coconut sizes can vary, although when plucked, it is an oval shaped fruit, light green outside and with a white edible layer inside. Coconuts are indispensable to many cultures and communities and offer use to human society with every major and little bit of itself.  Coconut juice can be refreshing on a hot summer's day and is preferably drunk without any added sugar or other ingredient.

The red curry combining roast duck slices with longans, tomato cuts, fish sauce, egg plants, pineapple cubes and coconut cream (picture above) also stood out. The Thai menu identifies this as the Kaeng Ped Pett Yang and uses different spice mixes from the green option ( tumeric and galengal being the differentiators).
Very different from the spicy duck curry of Kerala in southern India, the Thai version is lighter, more creamy and has roasted duck ready before the cooking for this dish begins.

Prawns with garnish sitting on top and wrapped in leaves above, encapsulates the best of cuisine from Thailand. Produce from both the land and seas, from the gardens and combined in clever ways to create new tastes and results, are utilised to whet the appetite and served in various forms of starters, desserts, curries  and mains.  The entree shown above echoes some of the  traditional dishes found as well in Straits Chinese, Burmese, Malay and Indonesian cooking variations.

Chedi also provides a choice of the brown version of jasmine rice, which is a necessary accompaniment to the dishes mentioned above. Vegetarians may want to try the savoury pumpkin and egg dish offered by Chedi.   We went to the opening along Newtown's King Street of a yogurt place, so we did not proceed to after meal sweeteners at Chedi.  In the dessert category, I did note that they also offer black sticky rice served with a dash of coconut cream and deep fried banana fritters with honey glaze and ice cream dollops.

Atmosphere:  Spacious and light setting.
Location: Suburban and trendy.
Taste: Good for specific dishes.
People Engagement:  Above expectations.
Service:  Friendly and efficient.
Best Dish Experienced:  Barramundi fillets with green mango salad.
Best Time to Visit: Lunch time.
Would I Return? Yes.

Dean's Diner - Newtown, Sydney

On first impressions, it can be one of the ubiquitous takeaways seen in each conurbation across the Australian sub-continent. Deep fried stuff, burger buns and the quick takeaway coffee. After my first visit, I found Dean's Diner to be more of a budding Hard Rock Cafe, without the frills, but with the friendly service, framed pictures that defer to the Age of Rock and Roll and a practical neighbourliness of its own.  I had a bacon and egg wrap for a late breakfast on my recent drop by there, together with the usual cuppa of cappuccino. A poster under the counter for a concert by the Flight of the Conchords caught my eye (image above).  Most customers that morning seem to know the place well and just had takeaway.  Great 1980s music was blaring away.

Spanish Harlem, Australian Crawl, Love Shack, Dixie Chicks. If the clientele are fans of such tracks, then their average age must be getting up there - baby boomers!  However, as you can figure out above, the food is ever ready teenage like or for the twenty somethings, nutrition and sustenance for people in a hurry, perhaps wanting instant gratification, but also providing the suburban comfy food feel.  Fast food, street food.  Perfect for the Newtown crowd, who contrary to perceptions, may not all want fancy and exotic cuisine everyday of their lives living there.

The diner is not far off from the corner of King Street, Newtown's main strip, and Goddard Street, where bright and captivating murals have been etched on the brick, for passer-bys to ponder and for residents to have a kind of landmark. The image below reminds me of Balinese or southern Chinese lions.

It can be fun going through in detail their varied and numerous menu items. The names of such items recall rock bands, great hits and the feel of another era.  Why the Beach Boys are actually buttered fish can be debatable, but they make selection of the burgers, wraps and seafood combos interesting and delightful. Critics may say the diner is just an ordinary takeaway and milk bar, but little touches like even in the labels of the food items help to make us think otherwise.  The food is reasonably priced.  There are many details to appreciate in the surroundings of the diner, from the clock to the framed photographs on the walls.  There is even a tray of Turkish balaclava available, apart from a diverse offering of canned and bottled drinks inside the fridges.  No Ben and Jerry ice cream flavours though at this stage, but you never know.  Speak to Marie and Steve?  Maybe not, as B & J's could jar the perception and reality of an old fashioned milk dairy burger joint that Dean's Diner has - and value - in many circles.

Open late most evenings (including till the very late 230am from Thursday to Saturday nights), Dean's Diner can be said to both contribute to and incorporate the lifestyle in one of inner Sydney city's cosmopolitan and buzzing suburbs.  My impressions of Dean's Diner on my most recent visit are:

Atmosphere:  Classic Aussie burger joint.
Location: Cosmopolitan and with easy access.
Taste:  Good enough.
People Engagement: Neighbourhood feel.
Service: With a smile.
Fav Dish Experienced: Got to go back more to try more selections.
Best Time to Visit:  Any time
Would I Return?:  Yes

The Sababa in Newtown, Sydney

A Newtown Festival, Sydney

Every major suburb in Australia tries to offer one special day in a year, when its residents and visitors from near and far, gather in a community spirit of mingling, browsing and patronising its unique produce, products and businesses. Call it a spring festival, market day or fete, such occasions showcase a neighbourhood's pace, uniqueness and culture. In November this year, I had the opportunity to sample the flavours of Newtown on a warm and welcoming day.

Innovative businesses in Newtown do offer unique tribe culture experiences like Replenished Records, BurgerFuel (offering lamb steaks!), The Mexican Guzman Y Gomez, Correllis Cafe and the Campos Coffee outlet. Outside on the pavements, the atmosphere is casual, bohemian and relaxing. There is an anticipation in the air and in the hearts of strollers that one can chance upon something interesting, something unexpected and something delightful. There is literally music in the air.

Iconic Aussie pub hotels like the Coopers and Marlborough do provide relief from the new fangled
outlets like Max Brenner, Kunetos Bar, Crumpler, MagNation and the Dendy. The awesome variety and choice of meals range from African at Kilimanjaro's, through Macedonian and Argentinian meat grills, to lighter stuff like the chicken pho soup(above) offered by Tnanh Binh.

Above: There are quiet residential neighbourhoods behind the main strip, where

daily life is played out with family, mates and loved ones that contrast

with the hype and reality of shopping, dining out and alternative lifestyles that Newtown may project to some.

Above: Hanging out at a key junction in Newtown, soaking in the

buskers, street players and just taking it easy on a Sunday arvo.

One Night at Thanh Binh, Newtown

Mildly hot salad laden with jellyfish, chicken cuts, prawn slices, crispy crackers and the lot.

Table overlooking King Street.

The banh xeo - heavenly-bite omelette wrapped over crunchy and fresh ingredients, not to be missed.

As one approaches the exquisitely crafted and smirkingly satisfying spring roll (cha gio), the shadow of our

hunger is snuffed out by this tasty delight. (This image credit - Sassychix)