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)!
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.
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 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.
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.
Seafood salad
Coconut fish
It’s hard to believe all the cooking takes place in this tiny converted shed!
Alfresco dining – restaurant in a converted shed
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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