SUGARCANE - SURRY HILLS SYDNEY

Sugarcane
40 Reservoir St
Surry Hills Sydney

Gastronomical guru Z recommended Sugar Cane so D, N and I eagerly made a foursome to experience it ourselves. Its an unusual place for a Thai restaurant. First, its not really in the main foodie part of Surry Hills. Second, its hard to recognise its a restaurant from the street - other than the smallish sign above the door.

Finally, it doesn't look like your typical Thai restaurant inside either with crisp clean minimalist lines.

We started with the roti with curry sauce, cucumber & chilli. The roti was almost to flaky - a bit like filo pastry and possibly a bit oilier than most but still very nice. The curry went very well with it too. This cost $10.00.

Next was the salt & pepper squid. This consisted of seven pieces of tender squid with a light crispy salt and pepper batter dusted with cinnamon. The cinnamon was unusual but went surprisingly well. This dish cost $18.00.







We then moved on to the salad of crisp pork hock with green papaya salad. This was extremely tasty and tangy. The salad was light and fresh and the pork hock was in nice crisp bite sized bits. This was refreshingly good and only cost $15.00.

The traditional Thai mainstay was then served, pad Thai / with chicken. The noodles were finer than usual - almost vermicelli like - but it all combined nicely. It turned out to be a good pad Thai and it cost $18 .00 - or would have cost $15.00 without chicken.

We the moved on to the hot and sour salad of soft shell crab with roasted rice and Thai basil Wow - this was light, fresh, tangy and tasty. We all loved this and at only $16.00 it was a bargain.

Next was the stir fried prawns with eggplant, yellow bean and Thai basil. The eggplant went quite well - even though it was an unusual combination. The prawns were tender and not overcooked. This dish was  $17.00.

Finally we all had rice with the meal which was $3.00 per person.

We chose an O'Leary Walker 2010 Clare Valley Cabernet Merlot to accompany our meal. The wine list is limited but has some nice options. This one cost $33.00.

Sugarcane has very light, fresh and fragrant food. Its very moreish and the combinations go very well together - even when they aren't traditional combinations. Its decor is simple and the restaurant is quite understated but its well worth visiting for a very good meal.