Maluka's Bistro

Once again we visited our favourite club in Palmerston and dined at Maluka's Bistro.

We decided to order a sharing platter for 2, Maluka's Combo. Marinated chicken wings, calamari, beef and chicken satays, potato wedges, garlic bread, duo of dips with pita bread and dipping sauce. $35.

We were presented with two dipping sauces. The first, a mild beetroot which tasted like it had been made from tinned beetroot, the second, a light Tzatziki. I found the pita bread quite chewy. The four chicken wings were large and greasy with only a mild flavour to them. There were quite a few squid rings, they weren't chewy which was a bonus, but were quite greasy. The beef and chicken satays were fairly small. I wasn't overly impressed with the beef satay. However, I found the chicken satay quite palatable. The potato wedges were nice although only mildly warm upon serving. We were surprised to find the garlic bread served as a side dish, and not cut into serving portions. We weren't given dishes to place our food onto so we ended up using our small bread and butter plates. It was quite awkward. We did find ourselves using our fingers quite a bit and spent a lot of our time trying to clean the grease off. We felt this dish should have been served with a finger bowl. Too much grease on the plate with grilled and deep fried foods.

For our dessert we shared a Home Made Apple and Filo Pastry Roll. It was advertised with warm custard and ice cream. $9.50.
Upon serving we discovered that it came with that ghastly whipped cream from out of a can. We asked the wait staff for the ice-cream that it had been advertised with. This was brought out to us, but no apology for the mix up. It was edible, but not spectacular.

We know not to order the sharing platter next time. There is a new menu so we will be back to try out other dishes. 

Bahn Thai Restaurant

We decided to visit the newly opened Bahn Thai restaurant in Palmerston, situated on the corner of Maluka Drive and Rolyat Street.

Our first impression was good. Clean, freshly painted and with a touch of Asian authenticity. At first we were seated in the corner, with myself looking straight into the walls. Not being happy with my view we asked to be moved to a different table. We were offered another table where I would be looking into a wall. Eventually we got to choose - great, this evening we could have a table that  would normally be for four people. Room to move!

We decided to share our main meals and get a fried rice to complement them.

Royal Thai Massaman

We were surprised when the Royal Thai Massaman was served in a soup bowl. For $26 we felt this serving was quite small. The beef was obviously silverside and had not been cooked in the curry sauce. The beef was tender and the sauce was delicious. Just not enough of it.

Chicken Fried Rice

The Thai style Fried Rice, $19, with spring onion, tomatoes and coriander was a little greasy. You could taste the peanut oil.

Chicken Pad Thai

Thai style fried noodle with bean sprouts and peanuts, at $19 this was the best meal for value we had on the night. Quite delicious.

Prawn Chu Chee

Tiger prawns with spicy coconut sauce, $27.00. We counted 10 prawns, they were delicious. I could have eaten the whole plate myself. The spicy coconut sauce being the nicest I've ever tasted.

The meals at this restaurant are not big, make sure you order extra to fill the gap. It's a pity they don't serve their meals with steamed rice.

Desserts range from $7 to $8.50 and are mostly made up with western style icecream desserts. We had wanted to try the glutinous rice balls with coconut milk, the only Asian style dessert on offer,  but they weren't available.

They also have a comprehensive wine list.

We were disappointed with the service, they were very slow to attend to us. Our meals weren't brought out at the same time. It's just as well we were sharing meals and could start on the first one.

Brrrrr - this is a very cold restaurant. The air-conditioning is powerful. Our meals were nearly cold when served, most likely because the air-conditioning chills them off too quickly.

Some of our meals had peanuts in them and they weren't advertised with peanuts. If you have an allergy, make sure you ask about each meal.

We ended our evening with tea and coffee. Be prepared for another lengthy wait, they only have a small coffee machine. No pots of tea, only a tea bag. Shame!

I found that sitting at the table was quite uncomfortable. The chairs are too low for the tables and there is no way you can tuck your legs under the chair because of their design. The tables have four splayed feet, like cafe tables. This makes it quite awkward when placing your feet.

Overall, I was a little disappointed with the Bahn Tai Restaurant but I'd be prepared to try them again. Next time I'll order steamed rice to fill the gap...and take a shawl.