MELBOURNE | I visited the original location of Nora Thai, in South Yarra, almost two years ago. I was struck by the warmth of owners and friends Thunyaluk “Palmmy” Aninpukkanuntin and Duangdao “Kana” Bannakornthe, and their passion for showcasing regional specialities not often seen in Melbourne. Palmmy and Kana have been planning to open a CBD location of Nora Thai since at least that time, and finally, at the start of this year, they made that dream a reality. I popped in for What’s On Melbourne to check it out.
The CBD location is much larger than the 20-seat South Yarra spot, and with that, comes an expanded menu. All of the favourites from the original are here, but now Palmmy and Kana are diving deeper into the cuisine of Thailand’s Surat Thani province, where they are both from.
Signature dishes that are all worth trying include Kaeng Bai Cha Plu, a creamy crab meat curry with betel leaf; bai leang pad kai, a wonderful stir-fry of Malindjo Southern Thai green leaves, with egg and garlic; and Gaeng Khua Prik Si Krong Moo. The latter dish is a fiery soft pork-rib curry cooked with shrimp paste and kaffir lime leaves.
New dishes that you’d be well advised to check out are the creamy Panang curry with coconut cream, fresh chilli, snake bean, kaffir lime leaf, and your choice of protein and heat level; and the sticky sweet and savoury Moo Wan braised caramelised pork belly with onion.
The mush expanded drinks menu now contains an assortment of cocktails, wines, and spirits, along with South-East Asian lagers, and non-alcoholic Thai drinks. I highly recommend the mango sticky rice cocktail, which combines mango rum, mango purée, lime juice, and coconut cream.
Nora Thai (CBD)
111 Lonsdale Street
Melbourne
Victoria 3000
Australia
Telephone: (03) 7073 3582
E-mail: n/a
Website
Open
Mon – Sun: 11:30am to 10:00pm
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