Chilli Box Thai
196 Coogee Bay Rd
Coogee, Sydney
You’ll find Chilli Box Thai in the heart of Sydney’s eastern suburbs. Literally a stone’s throw away from Coogee beach, its warm interior and relaxed atmosphere makes it a perfect choice for a casual dinner or even a night out with friends.
Chilli Box is licenced, with a pretty decent selection of wines on offer but you can also BYO if you prefer. We picked two glasses of rose from the wine list and studied the menu.
When it comes to Thai food, we know what we like, so it didn’t take us long to order our food. We found the service at Chilli Box to be seamless and quick, not to mention polite, so it wasn’t long before our entrees were served, with a smile.
The salt and pepper squid was perfectly cooked and had just the right amount of seasoning on it. The seasoning was so good, it almost had a smokey flavour to it, which was really unique. The soft squid was smothered in a crisp batter which was so good, we couldn’t get enough of it.
Our next entrée was the Larb Duck Lotus, a mouth watering pocket of peking duck garnished with mint, chilli and onion, all wrapped in some crispy ice berg lettuce. It had a great combination of fresh flavours.
It wasn’t long till our mains arrived and first up we tried the Peking Duck curry. This dish is highly recommended by the restaurant and after taking one bite of it, we can see why. Its an aromatic red curry featuring succulent Peking duck which is roasted before its put in the curry and because the meat is marinated with lychee and pineapple, its super tender too. Combine that with beautiful cherry tomatoes and some fresh basil and you have a lovely fusion of flavours. For us, this was one of the best Thai dishes we have ever tried and we can assure you, we have had a few Thai dishes in our time.
We finished our meal with a fresh papaya salad with soft shell crab. The soft shell crab was just as crispy as the squid we had earlier and was just as delicious. We were particularly impressed with the dressing of the salad, it featured fresh lime juice and made the salad burst with freshness.
If there was ever a Thai restaurant worth travelling to, Chilli Box definitely is it, so no matter where you live, get in your car and start heading to Coogee. The food is fresh and delicious, the staff deliver great service and the atmosphere oozes that lovely Thai hospitality.
Chilli Box is open 7 days a week for lunch and dinner and it won’t be long till we are back, we can assure you.
The Counts dined as guests of Chilli Box Coogee. Special thanks to Simon for this invitation.