Tidlom Thai Antique Restaurant
Shop C1, 550 Lonsdale Street (Healeys Lane)
Melbourne, VIC 3000
Tidlom is simply a hidden treasure. Its not flashy from the outside but boy do they have some nice food here. Chef/owner Top prepares some extremely tasty dishes with his own take on Thai food drawing on his upbringing. It turns out my camera was playing up so the photo's here don't really tell the full story. I was joined by the galloping gourmet A for this culinary adventure.
We started with the Thai style beef stew which was slow cooked beef seasoned with Thai herbs served with Thai spicy sauce. An amazing starter. The beef was so tender and the stew it floated in was full of fantastic flavours. Every mouthful was an experience that tantalised the taste buds. This dish costs $11.90.
The prawn cakes were amazing. A said they were his pick of the evening and I have to admit they were great. The tender and oh so light prawn cakes had a great subtle flavour and a crisp outer that combined perfectly. At $10.90 for a serving of 6 cakes its good value and they were decent sized prawn cakes too!
The Thai style omelette also didn't disappoint. It was a big omelette filed with minced pork and came with a tasty sauce. The light fluffy interior was packed with plenty of tasty pork mince and the flavour combinations were again great. At only $10.90 this was again a bargain - for a big omelette.
A wanted to try the traditional massaman beef curry and I have to admit to a weakness for this dish as well so it was an easy choice. What arrived was a huge serving of extremely tender beef in a lovely massaman sauce. There was plenty here - the servings were very generous sizes. But the real winner was the taste - amazing. I've had plenty of massaman in my time and this was one of the best. For $14.90 it was a big serving of big flavours.
Our final dish was one I was desperate to try - the soft shell crab with crispy garlic. I love soft shell crab (and of course garlic). This dish was the highlight of the night for me. It would have to be the best soft shell crab in Melbourne. So delicious, so well prepared, so tasty, so light, so good. It was a huge serving and I could have eaten two plates myself. At only $16.90 it was also great value for a large serving of soft shell crab.
Of course we had some rice - to mop up the delicious sauces and curry we had. It was decent rice - basically rice is rice.
Our host Top came out to have a chat with us and talk about his food philosophies. He an interesting guy with a real talent for preparing great food.
Tidlom Thai Antique Restaurant is a hidden gem in the fooderies of Melbourne CBD. Its not flashy to look at but it has a nice pleasant atmosphere and amazing food that will blow you away.
We dined as guests of Tidlom Thai Antique Restaurant and would gladly dine there again - and again and again. Its great.
