Samila Gaeng — Restaurant in Sunshine Coast Regional

Well, I feel like I've just walked into a Thai street cafe in Northern Thailand! What a fabulous find and well worth the day trip from Brisbane just to see and taste the real Thailand without getting on a plane. Traditional Miang of assorted flavours, self wrapped in generous betel leaves. A prawn dumpling with a wafer thin wrapper that tastes like the ocean alomgside a cricpsy rice and fermented pork salad was a textural wonder. Next up, grilled pork neck with the most delicious, dark dipping sauce alongside a fresh and zesty pomelo salad. Along next came a spectacular duck larb, so rich and spicy but calmed by fresh snake beans and cabbage slices. Krapow of crispy pork belly was umami-tastic, and we finished the savoury with the house, especially the Kao Soi coconut soup with beef cheeks, stunning in its authenticity. The coconut sorbet to finish, on a base of sticky rice and a crispy wafer on top soothed and freshened the palate. I already can't wait...

Went a few weeks ago with my partner, and the menu looked so good we thought we order as much of we could. We left ridiculously full and incredibly happy some of the best Thai I’ve eaten outside of Thailand.

Menu break down: Nuea sawan - super umami rich, delicious chewy goodness, spice profile was out of control.

Tod man pla - a classic done well, delicious sauce, wanted more but had to make room for other dope stuff.

Larb bpet - chilli level was on point, super fresh, nice and aromatic toasted glutinous rice, herb freshness was also great.

Kaprow moo grob- like being back on the streets of Chiang Mai or Bangkok, just delicious. Dip me in fried egg and roll me home.

Khao Soi - so rare to see outside of the north of Thailand. Great addition to the menu.

Will we back to try the rest of the menu. This...

I had high expectations of this restaurant based on the prior reviews. Unfortunately, it didn't meet the hype. I like the simplicity of their menu and had hoped that every dish would be done very well. We ordered Massaman curry, chicken satay, and khao soi. I have never been to Thailand, so I cannot comment on how authentic it is, but the food lacked much of the complex and well-melded flavours I have come to expect from delicious Thai food and there were no vegetables. The satay was chewy and the home made peanut sauce was pretty bland. The khao soi was just okay, and the massaman curry was the most plain that I have ever tried. ...