Kaffir Lime

9 Reviews on “Kaffir Lime”

• Artforartssake

  FOOD TYPEThaiFOOD QUALITYThe twins and I dined here on a Sunday in late May. Beer prices, at $7 a bottle, are surprisingly reasonable, and they have a decent selection of imported varieties, so we kicked back with a Becks, a Corona and a Stella. For entrees, we choose our fav beef curry puffs ($7 for three) and, for something a little different, chicken panang rolls ($16). The curry puffs were neat and small, with a crispy pastry and a tender, meat filling. The panang rolls reminded me of those Mex dishes like enchiladas, with the chicken rolled into a pastry wrap, drenched in a tangy dressing that tasted like Thousand Islands and the whole thing topped with fresh kaffir lime leaves. A great way to start the meal. For mains we choose the beef massaman curry ($19), the chicken cashew nut ($18) and pad satay tofu ($16), complemented with a large bowl of steamed rice ($9). That was a bit of a mixed bag. The massaman beef was tender, but a tad stringy and difficult to chew and swallow. The pad satay tofu had soft hokkien noodles and veg, but chef got a bit carried away with the peanut sauce. There was just too much of it, making it too rich for my liking. Probably best of the three was the wok fried chicken with chilli jam, mushrooms, fresh vegetables and cashew nuts. The chicken was succulent and tender and finely cut into tender, thin slices. Much easier to digest than the beef. The vegetables were fresh and tasty, and, as a nut addict, I loved the sprinkling of crunchy cashews over the mix. The soy sauce was added with a light touch, allowing the meat and veg flavours to shine through. For dessert; an Irish Coffee ($10). Not too many Asian restaurants offer this, but it was the perfect way to wrap things up on a cold, wintery night. ATMOSPHERELast time we were here, about three years ago, the place was pretty full, but this night, the atmosphere was quiet and fairly subdued, with just a smattering of other diners. I did notice, as I strolled around the area before meeting the twins at 6.30pm, that this little strip on Willoughby Road, just south of Mowbray Road, has become a bit of a death zone, with just about all the restaurants around here closed down, apart from this one, Berempah, the new Malaysian place next door, which seemed to have a decent turnout, and the evergreen Bot Dor , just up the road. Origin Dining is gone and so are the Indian and Jap places that used to be here. This just seems to mirror, the overall depressed state of our economy, where small businesses are collapsing like flies all over the place. But back to K.L.: Its a comfy place, carpeted throughout, with leather chairs, solid wooden tables, low lighting, arches and a kind of old world elegance about it. Im assuming that the current owners inherited the fit-out from another restaurant that might have tried to pitch itself at the upper end of the market, but like so many others failed to survive. SERVICEBeing pretty empty worked to our advantage as service couldnt have been more friendly, polite and efficient. We were warmly welcomed by the smiling maitre d and shown to a nice table near the window with a view onto the streetscape outside. Orders were promptly taken and drinks, entrees, mains and dessert came out quickly and in the correct order. COMFORTTables are large enough to easily fit all the dishes, and theyre well spaced too, giving you plenty of room to spread out. Acoustics are excellent, making conversation easy.MENUThe menu is a colourful document, with lots of pics and large, easy-to-read print, on plastic laminated sheets with separate drinks, desserts and specials menus. TOILETSToilets are upstairs, in the disused part of the restaurant. Theyre aged, but clean and well maintained, and its a relief to have them set well away from the kitchen. Theres no signage from where we sat, but, having been here before I knew where to find them. There are separate male and female toilets with plenty of cubicles.COSTWith our $20 Dimmi rewards voucher, we paid $93 and that included three drinks, two starters, three mains, rice and an Irish Coffee. I guess thats fair value, obviously a bit more pricey that when we were last here, but thats our low inflation climate for you. Full price at $113, would have made it a tad expensive.BOOKINGProbably not necessary except perhaps for a Fri or Sat night. Certainly, on the Sun night we dined, plenty of tables available.PARKINGParking around here is a breeze and I found a spot virtually right outside, where there are no weekend restrictions. If you cant find a spot on Willoughby Rd, just go round the corner into Frenchs Road where theres plenty of availability any night of the week.SUMMARYWe had a pleasant evening here and everything went off smoothly. The food was of the usual high standard, with generous servings, although some dishes could have done with a little less sauce. Service was friendly and efficient. Parking is easy and I enjoy the casual, laid back, yet stylish and refined ambience of this place. MEMOUnfortunately, K.L. seems to have dropped out of the Ent Book for this year (18/19), which is a disappointment.

  September 5, 2020, 6:33 am

  Log in to Reply
• EM

  Went here on a weekday for dinner as we had a voucher from the entertainment book. Although the place was empty they asked us if we had a reservation and took a little bit of time to give us a seat. Once seated the service was quick. We ordered a red duck curry, a chicken curry and a chicken larb salad. We asked for coconut rice but they apparently didn’t have any so just got normal steamed rice. The red curry and the basil and chilli chicken curry were very tasty, with the right amount of chilli and lemongrass and other flavours. The two dishes also did not skim out on the duck and chicken meat. The chicken salad however wasn’t too great, just a whole heap of minced chicken on top of a bed of salad leaves. It was also a bit too minty. Recommend this place for the curries though and would like to try their other dishes next time. One thing though, on the first page of the menu they had a note to say that they had to jack up the prices for prawns by $3 as there was a nationwide shortage of prawns. We hadn’t seen this in any other restaurant or heard about a prawn shortage, and it seemed a bit over the top and discouraging to put such a note on the menu! But if you don’t want the prawn dishes this note wont discourage from trying the restaurant.

  August 27, 2017, 6:12 am

  Log in to Reply