Lang Baan — Restaurant in Melbourne

📍 𝗟𝗮𝗻𝗴 𝗕𝗮𝗮𝗻 ⭑.ᐟ

❤︎ 𝗠𝗼𝗼𝗱-𝗯𝗮𝘀𝗲𝗱: A cozy farewell meal before heading back ❤︎ 𝗙𝗮𝘃 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗵: Pad Kra Pao ❤︎ 𝗚𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿: Thai food lovers, aesthetic restaurant seekers ❤︎ 𝗩𝗶𝗯𝗲: Warm, stylish, with nostalgic decor that blends old-school Thai charm with modern flair

ꫂ ၴႅၴ

I was staying near Lang Baan during my short trip to Melbourne, and I had it bookmarked for ages. Since I was heading back to Mansfield later that day, I decided to finally try it out. They reopened at 5PM—perfect timing for takeaway. The staff, especially the friendly woman at the counter, was so sweet and welcoming.

I ordered my go-to comfort dish: Pad Kra Pao. And wow… it was absolutely satisfying. You get two eggs on top, and the portion of minced pork was generous—enough for two meals, honestly! The flavor was perfectly balanced—spicy, savory, slightly sweet. Exactly what you hope for when you miss Thai food that tastes authentic.

Even though I had to take it away, I fell in love with the space too. The restaurant is aesthetic, filled with vintage Thai pantry items, and has that nostalgic-yet-trendy vibe. I told myself: next time I’m in Melbourne, I’m definitely dining in!

ⴵ 𝗪𝗮𝗶𝘁 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲: No wait, just in time for reopening 𐀪 𝗖𝗿𝗼𝘄𝗱: Quiet around 5PM ☼ 𝗗𝗮𝘆 𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗱: Weekend, pre-evening ‎𐂐 𝗢𝗿𝗱𝗲𝗿: Pad Kra Pao

𝗪𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗜 𝗿𝗲𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗻? 𝘈𝘣𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺! I’d dine in next time to soak up...

This is a newly-opened Thai restaurant, so hopefully issues raised by patrons are taken seriously so new customers will come and previous customers (incl us) are willing to go back:

Service is (very) slow. Order is placed using QR Code. It took ages to get the order delivered. The restaurant was not even busy at that time. Only 4 tables (incl us). Prior to coming to this restaurant, I saw their IG and it showed a long queue. But next time when you see a queue, it’s perhaps due to a very slow service.

Floor staff. There’re 4 floor staff (plus 1 man— might be the shift manager/ owner?) excluding kitchen staff. The floor staff was pretty much just hanging around…. and when customers finished and left, the floor staff (none of them) said thank you/ see you again.

Extremely poor ventilation. We couldn’t enjoy our meals and it’s mainly because heavy smoke INSIDE the restaurant. The main windows and door were wide opened, but it didn’t help much. Patrons were coughing due to this heavy smoke inside the premise. The owner needs to fix the range hood/ exhaust fan as this is a major OHS issue.

The food, however, was quite tasty. Hopefully these things are addressed so customers are willing...

The service here was excellent. All the staffs were very bubbly and enthusiastic which made the experience really great.

We didn't have dinner here, so there's not a lot to rate. However, we did try the fried chicken.

The fried chicken was good, but not hot; rather lightly warmed. This would've been a lot better had it been super hot. I really like that there's a lot of coriander to serve with the chicken. It gave it a good mix.

The chicken did not come out with sauce even though pictured, however, the staff kindly served us some once asked. Although I think the sauce should be more generous. We didn't have enough sauce for all the chicken.

Durian dessert 4/5: great flavours, good amount of durian, and the durian sauce made the bingsu very enjoyable.

Thai milk tea dessert 3/5: a little on the underwhelming side, not as flavourful, nothing that stands out. The TMT slushie is a lot better here. I would recommend the drink over the TMT bingsu.

Three coloured dessert: 4/5: great Pandan, great jackfruit and great ruby. A perfect blend and many flavours. I would give this 5/5 if the bingsu base was better.

I will come here again to try the...