What: Mon's on Darby
Where:150 Darby Street, Newcastle
Prices: Entrees $9 to $14; soup, $7.50 to $15 (small and large); wok stir fry, $14 to $19; curry, $15 and $20 (fish and seafood), seafood, all $20 with fish at market price; salad, $15 and $20; rice and noodles, $3 to $20; vegetarian, $7 to $14; dessert, $10.
Chef: Mon Lesmond
Wines: Very well priced selection of Hunter wines, BYO.
Hours: Lunch, Thursday and Friday, noon to 3pm; dinner, every day, 4.30pm until late.
Vegetarian: 12 dishes
Bookings: 4929 6655
Bottom line: $60 for two without drinks.
They've been there for nine years. I've walked past many times and admired tables that are beautifully set, even though the place was not yet open. I find myself wondering why it has taken so long to actually step inside.
Perhaps it's the abundance of Thai restaurants around Newcastle or perhaps it's because it is a little away from the main cafe drag. Whatever, alluring aromas coming from the kitchen, and the variety of tempting dishes on the menu means this certainly won't be the last time I dine here.
It's a family affair. The eponymous Mon is head chef and matriarch but brothers and various offspring do duty both in the kitchen and in the dining room.
The menu starts with a selection of the chef's signature dishes. These include the intriguing chicken breast steamed in bamboo leaf. You don't eat the leaf, but it imparts an intriguing flavour to the otherwise bland chicken, which gets a further kick when dipped into sweet chilli sauce.
Stir-fried quail is presented as breasts and legs, sticky with a deep-hued spicy soy and honey sauce, resting on golden brown sliced onions with a salad of tomato, carrot, capsicum and cucumber on the side. There's only one way to eat this, and it's finger-lickin' good.
If you are a fan of traditional Thai fish cakes and their distinctive bouncy texture you will not be disappointed. There is just enough heat in the chilli, cucumber and peanut dipping sauce to ease you into your Thai dining experience, and the fish cakes are suitably springy and fragrant with lemongrass, kaffir lime, fish sauce and fresh coriander.
Don't be put off by tales of Thai dishes with such a high chilli quotient that they will blow your head off. Curries can be toned down to suit Western palates if desired. The complex herb and spice flavours are still there, they are just not too in your face. Green curry, gan keaw wan, is a good example. You can have it with beef or chicken but we are told that chicken is best. A generous pile of tender chicken sits in a bowl of perfumed, coconut cream-thickened sauce. You just can't wait to dip in and discover shreds of red capsicum, bean shoots and sweet green peas lurking under the chicken.
But chilli freaks needn't be disappointed. There are more than enough dishes on the menu to keep you happy. Pad po tak is a seafood dish with a real kick to it. And this is not surprising considering the pieces of chilli, seeds and all, dotted around the plate. Succulent prawns, curls of squid and chunks of fish tumble through a healthy mixture of sliced carrot, green shallot, onion, pak choy, cauliflower florets and crunchy snow peas.
A generous portion of steamed rice, decent serving sizes and food infused with sweet, sour, salty and chilli flavours makes any thought of dessert redundant.
And if you can't get into Darby Street there's now a Mon's in Beaumont Street.
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