Papaya, Military Rd, Cremorne

Papaya, Military Rd, Cremorne

Tuesday 11 September, 2007

I love this place and back in April I committed to having my next Thai takeaway from Papaya. It's taken me a while but tonight I arrived home late and the inviting takeaway brochure was staring at me from its prime place on my fridge door. The sleek black brochure outlined everything on offer and made it all sound so deliciously good. Where do you start?

I phoned through my order and had a lovely conversation with the friendly staff member. I ordered:

- Kai Hor Bai Toey - succulent chicken, marinated and wrapped in fragrant pandan leaf then deep fried. Served with a tangy sweet sesame and tamarind sauce

- Pad Thai - classic thai stirfry of rice thin noodles, stir fried with chicken, bean sprouts, crushed peanut and scented sliced red onion

- Kaeng Phed Pedyand - action packed this highly spiced red curry highlights the deep flavours of boneless roast duck in chilli red curry combined with lychee, pineapple and cherry tomatoes which temper the heat of this classic

Could they make the food sound any more inviting???

The staff member explained that they were busy and the order could take up to an hour to be delivered. Was this OK? I was happy to wait and was surprised when my door buzzer went after 40 minutes. Standing in front of me was a smartly dressed staff member holding a brown paper bag with the Papaya logo on a sticker. The package was perfectly prepared and it almost felt wrong to rip it open to retrieve my dinner.

It hit me immediately that I had over-ordered. Not to worry....there's lunch for tomorrow. The food was steaming and I was impressed it had survived the journey so well. The entree chicken was sensational - I could eat a bucketful of the Kai Hor Bai Toey. The Pad Thai soaked up the duck curry and it became very clear that I could easily get three meals out of this lot! I enjoyed every mouthful - the sweetness from the lychee and pineapple with the spiciness of the duck curry was just to die for.

Papaya has continued to deliver the goods.

Papaya - Shop 7, 307 Military Rd, Cremorne - (02) 9953 8992

http://www.papayathai.com.au/