Named after Thailand’s famous Yaowarat Road, this fast-casual eatery serves punchy, pungent street food from a cheery, polished space.
It’s all happening at Yaowarat. University friends pluck prawns and calamari rings from winter-busting tom yum broth. Guys tumble in from a bar-crawl to order tamarind-tickled noodles, roast pork over rice and $1 congee. There’s a date that looks like it’s going well, especially when the stir-fried pipis arrive in an aromatic Thai basil-scented cloud. It’s noisy and clattery, the hangry urgency of the queue snaking up the laneway forgotten as soon as you’re in the food fug inside.
Yaowarat is the latest restaurant from Surachai “Ben” Kunchairattana, one of the main players in the city’s burgeoning modern Thai scene. He’s behind food hall Heng Thai, which also hosts salad hotspot Pick Prik and noodle pitstop Teow Teow, plus nearby Khao Soi (Thai-Japanese fusion) and barbecue place Aunglo. They’re all a far cry from the Thai food that still rules some suburbs, with coconut-forward curries subbed out for punchy, pungent street food, and concrete instead of carpet.
Open since February, Yaowarat’s large dining room finds the meeting place between warehouse and bistro. Exposed pipes run across the ceiling, a tiled floor meets rough-hewn exposed brick walls, and retro street-stall bric-a-brac is racked on timber shelving. Marble-topped tables surrounded by bentwood chairs form the bulk of the seating: it’s casual and colourful, cheery but polished.
The restaurant is named for Yaowarat Road in Bangkok, the heart of the city’s Chinatown. Last time I wandered the Thailand original, scooter-dodging on a humid Saturday night, the main drag was a shoulder-to-shoulder crawl in the glow of winking neon signs, Chinese lettering and Thai script side-by-side. This Yaowarat is off Little Bourke Street, in Melbourne’s increasingly pan-Asian Chinatown. The experience is Bangkok bustle rather than finesse. Ordering is via QR code, and staff are geared for efficiency rather than steering diners through the large menu.
Seafood is a strong thread. Among the snacky and shareable dishes, hoi jor are tofu skin rolls filled with crab and pork mince and fried to two shades of golden: that of the tofu shell, and the darker auburn of the filling. Fried barramundi pieces are piled on betel leaves for self-assembly with peanut, galangal, lemongrass, and chopped lime, skin and all. Fold everything into a two-bite parcel and dip it in tangy tamarind dressing.
The flavours are bold and joyful. Chinese cuisines are inextricably interlaced with some strands of Thai food. You see it here particularly in the wok-cooked dishes, and roasted and barbecued meats. A trio of pork is a stand-out: char siu, crisp belly and dense spicy sausage are served over rice with half a boiled egg, greens, and a savoury, sticky red sauce for pouring over the lot.
Though Yaowarat is a great place for a group, there are plenty of single-dish meals too. I’d happily slide in by myself for pad Thai, comforting pork bone soup or pad see ew, stir-fried flat rice noodles in soy-based sauce licked with the smoky char of the wok.
There’s a Melbourne-style freedom to some items. I was disarmed and charmed by a salad that includes both raw and cooked prawns, tossed in a hot, tart fermented fish dressing. It riffs on goong chae nam pla, a traditional raw prawn dish that’s adjacent to ceviche, and a cooked prawn salad with herbs. You get the bouncy sweetness of the cooked shellfish, and the jelly-like stickiness of the raw. As a staffer tells me later, the idea is to meld seen-it-before comfort and adventure into one scintillating salad.
Yaowarat is alcohol-free but a liquor licence is pending. Meanwhile, there’s purple butterfly-pea lemonade, Thai milk tea and lychee soda, among other quenchers. Beers and cocktails will be an improvement for sure, especially as Yaowarat is styling itself as a late-night place for prawns, pipis, pomfret and pork. No matter the beverages, this is a cool addition to Melbourne’s laneway lairs.
Three more laneway finds to try
Saadi at Sunda
Modern Indian cooking is one of the most exciting trends in Australian dining and pop-up concept Saadi is at the forefront. Good Food’s Young Chef of the Year Saavni Krishnan and previous Young Chef finalist Aditya Suresh are cooking winter dishes such as comforting dal khichdi made with local red lentils and served with pumpkin fritter and Brussels sprouts. On until July 26.
18 Punch Lane, Melbourne, instagram.com/saadi_melbourne
Pecks Road
Tucked down Manchester Lane, this new doughnut and sandwich deli has a realistic approach to sugar-laden treats. Owner and chef Albin Lawang is also a personal trainer and thinks both fitness and indulgence have their place in a happy, balanced life. That must be why I’m happy to balance one of their ube (purple yam) brioche scrolls in my hand on its way to my mouth. Also in Caroline Springs.
3/234 Flinders Lane, Melbourne, pecksroadcheatmeals.com
The Moat
Hidden beneath the State Library, Moat is easy to miss even though it’s been here since 2011. The Italian menu is homely and honest, with antipasti such as eggplant and provolone balls and main courses of slow-roasted lamb shoulder. Wednesday is gnocchi night, with a choice of three dishes, salad and wine for $40.
176 Little Lonsdale Street, Melbourne, themoat.com.au
Good Food reviews are booked anonymously and paid independently. A restaurant can’t pay for a review or inclusion in the Good Food Guide.
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