They say that necessity is the mother of all invention, which for Little Thailand owners Gigi Pitinanondha and June Kusolsomboon is what it came down to; the need to share their culture.
Opened in October of last year, the owners – who also happen to be cousins – are enjoying the experience of sharing their culture and food with others. After originally wanting to open a restaurant because they enjoyed eating their own cooking, the experienced team who have previously owned Thai restaurants in Sydney jumped at the opportunity in Canberra when it came up.
“I had been living in Canberra for a while before we opened the restaurant, and was disappointed that I couldn’t find any Thai restaurants that cooked traditional cuisine like I was used to back in Thailand,” Gigi Pitinanondha said.
“When a friend mentioned Dickson as being an option to open a restaurant, we thought it was a great idea! There are already many Asian cuisine restaurants around here, and so now the customers have a bigger choice of what style they would like to eat.”
One of the common misconceptions about Thai cuisine that Little Thailand is trying to dispel is that all dishes are usually spicy with a lot of strong herbs being used.
“Actually it is a balance between spicy and being able to taste the food for what it is. If we talk about dishes like pad-Thai noodles and stir fry chicken and cashew nut, people always think that you have to taste sweet first; then maybe sour. But really these dishes aren’t sweet at all.”
And their mussasman curry does just that. A beef dish slow cooked with pineapple and peanuts in a coconut sauce are neither too spicy nor too bland. Another Little Thailand specialty is the Tamarind prawn. Preserved in vinegar and sugar, the Tamarind fruit give a refreshing flavour to the prawns.
Little Thailand isn’t just about the food though.
“We try to blend the atmosphere with Thai culture, so that more people can know more about it. The presentation of the food isn’t necessarily traditional Thai, as we have to cater for the western culture; however the taste is absolutely one hundred percent authentic. In the end we try a little bit more with the presentation because you taste with your eyes first.” Ms Pitinanondha said.
And as dinner must always be followed by desert, so to should a meal from Little Thailand. Highly popular on the menu is the crêpes, but the black sticky rice pudding with sweet coconut milk is worth a try as well.
