Thai on Brunswick is my favourite Thai in Brisbane. It may not be terribly authentic, but I'm not a snob, so if you are - go cry into your chicken feet, or whatever ;).
It's hidden away in the Central Brunswick complex (where Montezuma's is), and parking is available both on the roof, and in the undercover car park. BEWARE, and I mean BEWARE, however: if you park there. Do not leave the complex. Countless times, I've left to see tow truck drivers towing car, after car, after car away from the car park. And I've heard some horror stories. It's totally understandable that in the valley, business owners want car parks made available for their customers (not nightclub revellers), but popping across the road to get some gelati has never made me as nervous as when I'm parked here. It's like a covert mission. After I enquired "how do the tow truck drivers know who to tow?!" to a restaurant owner, I was told that they have plain clothes people waiting with a camera. The second you park, they watch to see where you go. If you leave the complex they snap your photo, and tow your car. I think this complex even ended up on Today Tonight and in Brisbane Times because so many people were being towed, so I'm sure they've relaxed now. Juicy, no?! But.. I digress.
Thai can be a bit of a minefield for vegetarians and vegans, with those often sweet, polite staff telling you "vegetarian, yes, it's fine!" and then you realising that all of the dishes marked "vegetarian" are loaded with fish sauce, oyster sauce, and shrimp paste. But Thai on Brunswick seems to understand "vegan, no animal", and if in doubt, you can ask them to leave out the aforementioned items.
For entree, the deep fried tofu is a great option. I love thai style tofu, which is super-firm, chewy, and pressed. They then batter it and serve it with a sweet chilli sauce *drool*. The deep fried vegetables are similarly delicious, and are generally fairly generous. The curry puffs and spring rolls are both pretty standard.
For mains, I generally like to share a curry and a stir-fry between two, so we can get a bit of variety. The stir fries are generally lovely - with that hint of authentic "wok taste" on the crisp, smoky vegetables, offering a range of your choice of light, but flavoursome sauces. The curries are great, particularly the red curry - always delicious, and there's a great mix of tofu and vegetables, as well as broth (to pour over your rice... mmmmm). I can never get things to taste this good at home.
Note: They are closed Tuesdays, which is bizarre, and always when I want to go. The prices are very good, they're fairly fast, and most people can find what they want here - so it's great for mixed groups. Love it! read more