Address: Shop 2-3, 43 Blaxland Road Ryde
Tel: (02) 9807 1822
Opening Hours:
Monday to Sunday 5pm-10.30pm
* * *
An Ouffer voucher led us to try out Arawan Thai restaurant in Ryde.
Atmosphere
Visiting Arawan Thai is like going on a holiday to an exotic destination. As soon as you walk in, you step away from the hustle and bustle of busy Ryde and are greeted by a beautiful and modern atmosphere which incorporates both exotic Asian decor and sleek, modern furniture.
MC and I loved the decor and the whole time we were there we felt as though we were on holiday somewhere in Asia.
Arawan Thai’s modern, sleek, decor.
Service
Service was great. Our waiter was friendly and helpful and although his English wasn’t fabulous, it only added to the experience.
We were quickly advised that the deal allowed us to have:
- 1 Mixed Entree each
- 1 Main each from the stir-fries or curries section or one from the seafood section of the menu
- 1 choice of ice -cream each
- 1 bottle of wine for the table (we chose white and were given a bottle of Chardonnay)
When the food came out we were not disappointed.
The Mixed Entree contained fish cakes, satay chicken skewers, curry puffs and moneybags with two dipping sauces. It was well presented and the food came out hot.
The satay chicken skewers were divine and the nutty peanut sauce was melt-in-your-mouth delicious.
The moneybags were crunchy and golden and the addition of coconut to the pork mixture inside was a nice touch.
The vegetarian curry puffs were just that little bit spicy and the pumpkin filling was creamy and tasty.
Although I am not a lover of fish cakes, I don’t mind them and these were delicious with the onion and cucumber dressing.
For mains we decided to order Chilli Prawns and the Panang Chicken Curry with steamed rice.
The prawns weer spicy and cooked just right (not too hard/chewy and not under-cooked). There were some nice crunchy stir-fried vegetables in the dish, although I would have liked to see some snow peas in there.
The Panang Curry was delicious. The spiciness of the chillis in the creamy sauce was offset by the mild coconut milk. There was a generous serving of the dish, although there were probably more vegetables than chicken. Nonetheless we absolutely enjoyed this dish and although we ate a lot, we even had about half of it left over at the end to take home.
Finally we moved on to dessert which was a choice of ice-cream flavours including green tea, mango, coconut, vanilla, chocolate and red bean.
MC chose the mango and I chose coconut. The mango was flavoursome and tasted as though mango pulp had been mixed into it. The coconut was also refreshing and when we mixed the two flavours together it was heaven!
Although the ice -cream was a pretty boring dessert, we were already full at that stage and the creamy, cold ice-cream was a great way to finish off the meal.
Overall we had a wonderful time at this restaurant. From the atmosphere to the service to the delicious food, everything was enjoyable. MC mentioned that he would return here for lunch one day (as he works in the area), and I would definitely come back next time I’m at Top Ryde.
Rating:
Overall I would rate my dining experience (out of 10):
- Service- 7
- Food- 8.5
- Ambience- 7
- Value – 8
Looks like a great selection of Thai dishes and those those desserts sound wonderful!
I was just in Sydney last month but didn’t try this. I was so surprised how large the Thai population there in Sydney!