Charmed by Hanuman Thai

10 Reviews on “Charmed by Hanuman Thai”

• Russell Pollard

  When we stepped into Charmed we felt immediately comfortable. The staff were lovely and remained quietly attentive for the entire time we were there.For a shared entree, we had the Charmed sampler [spring rolls, chicken satay, steamed dumpling and fish cake]. A great start is always good.The main meal was a mix from good to even better with glimpses of terrific..The roti was exactly how I like it except that it really was a small serve. It would have improved greatly had there been two pieces as a serve. Most people say they dont want any until it comes then everybody wants a piece. The slow cooked Massaman beef was generous and tender. Larry wasnt keen on the cinnamon taste but I quite liked it. It could have had a tad more chilli heat . . . but I hadnt noticed that their heat code of one or two chillies had awarded none to the Massaman. In fact it was called Massamsn beef rather than curry so ai cant complain. It could have had a bit more potato. Nonetheless when Id finished all that was left was a cinnamon stick, a curry leaf and a star anise pod. We ordered just one serve of Jasmine rice which was plenty and we left about a quarter of the bowl. The Duck Salad comprised grilled pieces of duck mixed cleverly with fresh crisp salad vegetables and greens. The dressing was good but it also could have had more.Disappointingly the only dessert available was ice cream and even that was not on the printed menu which was dessert free. We were there for dinner, not lunch.It was BYO [$2.50 a glass] and I thought theyd spirited away the bottle cap . . . they hadnt . . . so the only alternatives were what my younger sister used to call finger stopper wine or finish the bottle. I wasnt driving so I finished it. Our friends Gordon and Janine had left it for us in the fridge of the gorgeous granny flat at the end of their long leafy block in St Ives, where we are lucky enough to be staying while they are away for a couple of days. I always wrestle with strange pillows in hotels and granny flats so maybe finishing the wine will calm my head when it eventually hits one!The food was basically quite decent. The very pleasant service and the ambiance . . . somewhere between a kind of civilised Green Day rock and Vanessa Carltons sophisticated acoustic folk . . . identified by Shazam . . . was charming and with an impressive menu were at 4 but the lack of dessert followed by a lack of coffee certainly brings it back to 3 as a dinner restaurant.

  August 6, 2020, 8:59 pm

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• Karen De Mar

  Disappointed. Was my favourite Restaurant in St Ives. Food ok but not great. Was incensed and so disappointed that at least 2 full dishes of leftovers were whisked away without asking us if we wanted them as takeaway. When queried they staff said too bad we threw it out! What a waste of food and money. Will not be back.

  March 17, 2019, 3:46 pm

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• Steven

  After a 10 hour road trip from Melbourne consisting of potato crisps for lunch we were delighted to stumble across a shopping strip in St. Ives on the Sydney northern fringe with a number of restaurants. After wandering the strip and looking at Vietnamese, Indian and Japanese restaurants, we chose Charmed Thai.It was about 6:45 pm when we arrived and the restaurant was flat out, serving both seated guests and many awaiting take away.For our entrees we had duck spring rolls – which while lovely were miniscule for almost $10 and I was unabke to detect any hint of duck flavour. The accomanying sweet lemongrass sauce was divine – and we also used this with our mains. The hot sweet sour coconut milk soup with chicken and mushroom was good, and was the only genuinely Thai tasting dish of the night.Mains consisted of Barramundi Fillets with a chili sauce, mixed vegetables and a vegetable sirfry with chicken in oyster sauce. These dishes were more reminiscent of Chinese cuisine than Thai, but were passable.Nevertheless, it wss great to eat something healthy after a long day on the road.

  October 30, 2017, 4:51 pm

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