Tucked in the alleyway of Melbourne CBD is Boonchoou, a cozy Thai restaurant offering authentic and spicy flavours. We dined here for lunch as a group of 4 and ordered a la carte.
Food
This was pak mor sai khem for $19 and was the best dish of the day. It was steamed rice dumplings, prawn floss, coconut flesh, makrut lime leaves and coconut sauce. The texture of the prawn was distinct against the chewiness of the dumpling, giving it this fun mouthfeel. And the flavours were amazing: an umami, savoury and creamy sweetness profile.
This was kuaj tiew lord for $18. It was average, probably because they forgot the dark soy sauce now that I’m writing out this blog post. It was steamed pork belly rice noodle dumplings with shiitake mushroom, crispy garlic and pickled chilli. The dumpling was a bit too dense.
This was moo sam chan tod nam pla, a battered fried pork belly with smoked chilli, tamarind sauce and fried garlic for $20. It was crispy, but the pork belly was quite dry on the inside.
Next was sen mee pad moo grob for $25, a stir fried vermicelli noodle dish with crispy pork belly, garlic, chilli and seasonal vegetables. It was refreshing and moderately spicy. The noodles had a nice bounce to the bite.
This was an enjoyable and spicy slurp of tom sap, a braised pork soft bone in lemongrass and galangal soup, smoked chilli and rice for $21.
This was the spiciest dish of the day. Look at all those Thai chillis. This was som tum thai $20, a green papaya tomato, bean salad with chilli, lime and dried shrimp. One bite sent most of our palates to hell. It was refreshing and crunchy, if we looked past the spice.
This khao pad muag dam for $26 was fried rice squid ink with calamari and house-made spicy sauce. It was average.
Service
Service was good. Standard.
Review
It was a good lunch. We might come back for the pak mor sai khem, but at this moment we are trying to try all the Thai restaurants in Melbourne.
Thanks for reading. Happy eating.
Thanks for reading. Happy eating.
