Good views don’t always have to come with a hefty price tag and The Thai at d’Albora Marina in Sydney’s Inner West suburb, Cabarita, is probably one of the most overlooked waterfront restaurants. Simple Thai seafood dishes are freshly prepared as the sun sets on a sparkly Parramatta River, making it the perfect spot for romance on a budget (plus it’s BYO)!

The Thai at d'Albora Marina in Cabarita
Waterfront dining at The Thai, Cabarita

Having booked a table, Zen and I walk right in and take a seat by the calm ripples. There are other tables tucked away beneath a tree in a cottage-like garden.
Takeaway menus and cutlery in little trays conveniently make up the table setting. Soon we are brought these adorable little silver drinking cups which looked so new, they must’ve just arrived from Thailand.

Cute little Thai cups at The Thai, Cabarita
Adorable drinking cups

The menu is your standard Thai fare with entrees such as chicken wings, spring rolls and curry puffs priced from $2.95. On the heartier end are some classic curries (Penang, green, red and massamun, all $15.95), stir-fries straight from the wok ($13.95 – $19.95) and the starchy favourites such as pad thai, and fried rice from $13.95.
The chef’s specials features the more creative options which include some enticing entrees such as fish parcels or soft shell crab, and mains such as chilli jam prawns.

Chef's specials at The Thai at Cabarita
Chef’s specials menu

I decide to start with the prawn and crab rice net (five for $10.95) which are golden weaves of a glass vermicelli net holding tightly a peppery wholesome mixture of yam, prawn and crab. Each bite was filled with an addictive flaky crunch.

The Thai Cabarita - prawn and crab rice net spring rolls
Prawn and crab rice net spring rolls

Also on the chef’s special are both our main dishes: seafood salad ($20.95) and coconut fish ($20.95).
The salad is a tangy and refreshing mix of king prawns, mussels, calamari, deep-fried fish pieces, carrot, onion, coriander, chilli, iceberg lettuce. The deep-fried basa fish fillets are also the highlight of our coconut fish dish. I love that the deep-fry has given the fish a well textured bite. It also allowed the fish to soak in more of the creamy coconut gravy which lightly coated some crisp vegetables.

The Thai at Cabarita - seafood salad
Seafood salad

The Thai at Cabarita - coconut fish
Coconut fish

It’s hard to believe all the cooking takes place in this tiny converted shed!

The Thai at Cabarita - shed, dining tables, alfresco dining
Alfresco dining – restaurant in a converted shed

The Thai on Urbanspoon
The Thai
d’Albora Marina
138 Cabarita Road, Cabarita NSW
Phone: (02) 9739 6833
Opening hours: Closed on Monday, lunch (Fri – Sun only) 11.30am – 3.15pm and dinner 5 – 9.30pm except for Sun, Tues and Wed which closes at 9pm

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http://jenniferlam.com
Jennifer is the founding blogger of I Ate My Way Through (originally, Jenius.com.au). Growing up in the multicultural melting pot of Sydney’s Inner West as a second generation Australian (of Vietnamese refugee parents of Teochew Chinese ancestry), Jen has always had a deep curiosity about global cuisines, culinary heritage and the cultural assimilation of immigrants. For Jen and her family, food is always at the centre of all celebrations, life events and milestones. A lover of the finer things in life, as well as cheap eats, her blogging ethos is all about empowering and inspiring people to expand their culinary repertoire. When not running her two companies (she is also the Managing Director of The Bamboo Garden online marketing agency), Jen can be found exploring old-world charms at vintage markets and delving into local eats around the world. She has a weakness for fried chicken.

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  • Jen

    Thanks Vincent – I’ll look into it

  • Jen

    Cabarita is a pretty nifty suburb! Go for a drive around too :)

  • Jen

    Love watching your wish list grow – i’m sure you’ll love this place! I really wanna try the soft shell crab next time, saw it served at another table. Perhaps you can try it when you end up going and let me know 😉

  • Jen

    Hehehe, I can’t imagine making the net from scratch, I’ll have to hunt for the frozen ones myself! The filling was marvelous!

  • Jen

    Oh yes, hard to go wrong with Thai and seafood! It’s a great little find isn’t it? So peaceful and absolutely stunning at sunset!

  • Jen

    Thanks, I love exotic and punchy flavours of Thai too, mmmm :)

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  • The prawn and rice net springrolls look enticing. Thanks for sharing – I’ve never heard of Cabarita and this hidden gem until now :)

  • wow what a great find. i’ll add this to my wishlist. love the look of the Prawn and crab rice net spring rolls mmmmmmmm :-)

  • The prawn and rice net springrolls look amazing. My mum always serves these at parties. I think she cheats and buys the frozen ones ehehe. They are so good. All the food looks amazing.

  • I really like the look of the prawn and crab rice nets. Such a great looking dish with some of my favourite ingredients. What a great discovery. This place looks fun.

  • wow! the food looks amazing! Absolutely love thai food!