Jinda Thai

Some of my family has flown into Melbourne for a holiday and we’ve been busy the past two weeks showing them around the area. One problem I face with visitors is that I never can decide which restaurants to bring them to. Should we visit a restaurant that I have been wanting to try and has many reviews raving about it online, or should we stick to one of my favourite restaurants in Melbourne?

After a long consideration, Miss XS and I decided to visit our favourite restaurants to avoid any unpleasant surprises. After all, I (and a few unlucky friends) have first-hand experience how misleading online reviews can be. 

One of the restaurants that easily makes our list of top recommendations is Jinda Thai, a restaurant that my friend from Chang Mai loves because of their legitimate Thai cuisine. Ever since Jinda Thai opened its doors in July 2013, it enjoyed a meteoric rise to become one of the most popular restaurants in Melbourne. This marks Miss XS's sixth time eating here, and my second!  

The 5 of us ordered the Pineapple Fried Rice with Seafood ($14.90), Pad Ee Sew($12.90), Boat Noodles with Beef ($9), Soft-shell Crab Stir-fry with Onions and Curry ($16.90), and Deep Fried Fish with Tangerine Sauce. We also had Iced Milk Tea ($3).

First to be served is the Iced Milk Tea: I liked it, but others commented that it was too sweet for their liking.

The Pineapple Fried Rice with Seafood was a decent dish, with fresh seafood and a just-nice touch of seasoning. I wished that the cashews were toasted though, to lend a crunchier texture to the fried rice.
On her previous visit, Miss XS enjoys the Thai Spicy Fried Rice with Roasted Pork more because the spice packs a greater punch

Pineapple Fried Rice with Seafood 

Next is the Pad Ee Sew($12.90). We were deciding between this and their more-popular Pad Thai. We went against the recommendations of our waitress and ordered this instead. It’s nothing to rave about, and tastes very similar to sweetened Chinese cuisine stir-fry noodles. Perhaps this is a lesson learnt?

Pad Ee Sew

Pad Thai (ordered on a previous trip)

The Soft-Shell Crab Stir-Fry with Onions and Curry unanimously voted to be the best dish. The crab was fried perfectly to a crisp without any of oiliness, and the curry was deep and flavourful. There was not enough to go around the table. The curry was good enough to merit a return trip to Jinda Thai just by itself. Miss XS and I decided that the next time the two of us go, we would just order two plates of this. No sharing! Although we might also end up with an order of Deep Fried Fish with Tangerine Sauce to go along with our next meal as well. The Tangerine sauce was inspired and brought the dish to another level.This was the other Must Order Dish.

We also had the Boat Noodles with Beef, which, after the two star dishes, was a bit of an anti-climatic. The beef was more chewy than I would have liked, and the broth was pretty ordinary and forgettable, especially when surrounded by other dishes with much more impactful flavours.

In the latter half of the meal, Miss XS and I wrangled every last portion of the Soft-Shell Crab and Fried Fish from everybody else (HA those slowpokes. Obviously some children inherited more speed from our parents than others), then feign fullness and passed on the Boat Noodles.

On a tangential note, on my previous occasion, Miss XS and I ordered the Pahang Beef Curry with Pumpkin. I couldn’t remember much about it (other than it was spicy), but Miss XS loved it. It was creamy and the pumpkin goes surprisingly well with the curry.  Roasted Red Duck Curry was good but paled in comparison. The Massaman Curry with Beef that we had on a previous visit was thick and creamy but too sweet for Miss XS's liking.

Som Tum with Deep Fried Soft Shell Crab was spicy, refreshing and the soft shell crab adds a nice crunch to it. This dish is definitely a crowd pleaser, though I wish the portion was more generous.

Som Tum with Deep Fried Soft Shell Crab

This Coconut and Pandan dessert was unremarkable. (Ordered on a previous trip)

All in all, Jinda Thai serves remarkable food and it’s something I would crave. The next time I’m there, I’ll know exactly what to order. And there’ll be no feigning bloated-ness this time around.

Update: The Chicken Cashew Stir Fry (no.48 on the menu - I think) was sweet by itself and decadent when drizzled over rice. Unlike my past experiences, the nuts this time on my latest visit was crunchy and toasted.

We had the Thai Tea Crepe Cake, which was as good as the ones served at Lady Antoinette. 

Must Try Dishes:
Soft-shell Crab Stir-fry with Onions and Curry
Deep Fried Fish with Tangerine Sauce
Som Tum with Deep Fried Soft Shell Crab
Pahang Beef Curry with Pumpkin.

UPDATE: We headed to Gelato Messina for desserts, a few blocks away. 

Bonus section!
Check out the thai grocers next door that stocks Thai Crispy Roll. We only learnt about it because we eavesdropped on another customer and her friend, and promptly bought whatever they bought. Monkey see monkey... etc. Kaisu (Scared of losing out) what. 

I know eavesdropping isn't very nice, but this snack is. We like the Pandan Flavour Thai Crispy Roll. 

I grew up on the Chinese version of it every Chinese New Year, though I can't for the life of me remember the name now (is it called 春卷?). But this version takes the cake, and is insanely addictive.