Herald Rating: * * * 1/2
Address: 3076 Great North Rd, New Lynn
Ph: (09) 827 8266
Ambience: Bright and busy.
Vegetarians: Their own menu.
Watch out for:The port-bearing proprietor.
Bottom line: A solid performer.
The potluck dinner at the home of a friend, a frequent dining companion, was going well. The Professor had agreed to provide our household's contribution, which meant stopping in at The Little Grocer in Richmond Rd and picking up a quinoa salad (I love it when the Professor says she'll take care of dinner, because the cooking is done by someone different each time).
So we were feeling well fed and watered when someone said out of the blue that you couldn't get decent Thai food in Auckland. My ears pricked up. I wasn't about to contradict, since I have had some pretty lousy Thai food in Auckland, some of it in renowned and popular restaurants, and even the stuff that wasn't lousy seemed unremarkable. But is it true?
I like Thai food, but eating out at a Thai joint is never a novel experience. I suppose it's worth distinguishing between Thai food and the food in Thai restaurants: I suspect there are dozens, if not hundreds, of Thai dishes that diners in the West are never offered and as a result the menus tend to comprise each place's cover versions of the greatest hits.
But for a long time Lai Thai in New Lynn has featured on lists of recommendations sent to me by kind readers. So I thought it a good place to take the woman who said there were no decent Thai places in town.
To cut a long story short: she has changed her mind. I suspect she had already done so before she made short work of a dessert of sweet sticky rice but I did take her "This is unbelievable!" as evidence that she had surrendered her position.
We had brought our own wine (the place is fully licensed but corkage is only $4 a bottle) and enjoyed some lovely Lindauer sauvignon blanc bubbly while I delegated the choice of food to my guests. They settled on a representative selection of goodies, avoiding those silly money bags and spring rolls, but starting with a trio of rather fine hot and sour soups.
Then they built a selection of mains (four between five of us) round the whole snapper in a mildly chilli tamarind sauce (which was sensational; big and moist and aromatic): a beef larb nuah (a meaty, herby salad with lemongrass and mint); sizzling prawns with pepper and garlic; and pad thai, a classic dish of stir-fried noodles.
Only the latter left me unimpressed. It's odd to report having found something bland in a Thai meal, but that's what it was, the Thai equivalent of egg fried rice.
All was forgiven after the desserts - the aforementioned rice and some deliciously non-greasy banana fritters. What's more, the boss, whose name is the very non-Thai Gavin, said he'd give us a free dessert if we could guess the flavour of the icecream ("Fig and honey," said the Professor, whose familiarity with the Kapiti range is exceeded only by people who work for Kapiti).
He was as good as his word and his largesse extended to a glass of port for each of us. It wasn't exactly Thai but it was very nice and topped off an excellent evening.
My principal thesis about Thai food remains unchallenged, but Lai Thai is as I was advised: much better than many and as good as any I've tried.
