Thai Alley, Eastland Ringwood

There were some mixed reviews on the Net for Thai Alley in Ringwood, so it was with some trepidation when we visited this restaurant to try it out. Luckily, we found the place to be clean, service is quick and efficient and the food tasty. 

There are two Thai Alleys in Melbourne, one in Watergardens and the latest one in Ringwood which had been opened for a year or so. We only tried this restaurant because of the Entertainment Book discount, which goes to show that marketing through EB is quite effective.

For entree we ordered the Miang - prawn, tamarind, peanuts, caramelised coconut, lemon zest served on betel leaf ($9 for 2). Generally, I don't really like the chewiness of betel leaf and I tend associate betel leaf with the olden Asian habit of chewing betel leaf with limestone paste (sirih dan kapur), which can cause irreversible and fatal side effects. But I have found that betel leaf on its own can aid constipation (I guess because it has so much fibre, so chewy) and has Vitamin C. That said, it is not something I would go out of my way to eat. The caramelised coconut and tamarind goes quite well with the poached prawn and there were zesty, sweet, sour notes in my mouth while eating the dish. 

My favourite was the Stewed Pork Hock ($28) which is a complete dish with blanched chinese brocolli, hard boiled egg, and pickled vegetable on the side. The pork hock was stewed until it falls off the bone, it was silky and smooth and lots of collagen in the quivering skin. The sauce was sweet and savoury, delicious. We found the nam jin sauce very sour but it helped to provide a change in the taste of the dish when we wanted something different to the original sweet and savoury sauce. I would love to have this dish every week, if I didn't have to worry about cholestorol!

We also had the crisp barramundi, caramelised pork with apple salad, herbs, dried shrimp and red chilli dressing ($27). The dressing reminded me of Malaysian rojak made with prawn paste. The apple was crunchy and sweet and it made eating the deep fried barramundi pieces and crispy pork belly less sinful!

The prices are a bit steep but the portions are generous and there is a 5% discount with cash payment.