Green curry anyone?
Situated on the lower end of Pakington Street in BKK Boy Thai, a new-ish Thai joint that opened last July, amidst the height of the pandemic. I visited the kitchen today to check out the menu try some of their dishes.
BKK Boy Thai is located on the Newtown end of Pakington Street, a place that has an entirely different feel to the Geelong West end. Here, the street is brighter and sunnier (probably thanks to the reduced number of trees) and feels more open. Nonetheless, a whole host of eateries and boutique shops have made the strip home, with shops sprawling off into the side streets too. BKK Boy Thai gets its name from Suvarnabhumi Airport, the main international airport in Bangkok, whose airport code is BKK. The restaurant carries this theme of travel through its décor, including a cutesy mural of a cartoon character riding a Tuk Tuk. Whilst this may seem a little cynical, the latest lockdown may be the best part of the whole experience. As it was a rather hot day, and parking on Pako is usually a tedious affair, I wasn’t looking forward to parking two blocks away from where I wanted to be. But, to my surprise, the street was completely empty, and I was easily able to park right out front, something I don’t believe I have ever done.
The space was freshly renovated before BKK Boy Thai opened for business and as such feels very bright and inviting. The staff were lovely too, quick to serve me, right before lunchtime, and quick to prepare my meal.
Out of frame, curious kitty getting a whiff of ginger
I ordered a serve of Pad Khing, a vegetable stir fry that is identified by its unique gingery taste. Based on that description I was not disappointed, there was plenty of sauce, and with every vegetable I ate, I copped a mouthful of the delicious garlic and soy affair. BKK Boy offers a variety of different meats for your dish, chicken, beef, pork belly, and prawn to be precise. Despite the street being deserted, I felt like fitting in with the metropolitan crowd, and I ordered the vegetarian option. The tofu was the nice firm kind, that had an almost crunchy outside from being stir-fried.
Accompanying the tofu was a selection of vegetables, crunchy broccoli, soft mushrooms, and baby corn. The variety in textures was much appreciated and make it an enjoyable selection to eat indeed.
One thing to note, which caught me off guard, this wasn’t served with rice or noodles or anything of the sort, just vegetables, tofu, and sauce. To be fair, it doesn’t explicitly say that it does and on their menu ‘rice dishes’ and ‘noodles’ are in separate parts, but still. However, I wasn’t that bothered by it, just confused initially.
The serving was fairly generous all things considered, and I couldn’t bring myself to finish the whole serve. I poured the remains back into the plastic container from which it came and popped it into the fridge. I reckon I will serve it with some noodles later on.
BKK Boy Thai’s menu is very extensive beyond what I tried, with 14 different ‘stir fried’ dishes like the Pad Khing I tried. Thai classics like Pad Thai and Green Curry are surely favourites among the menu, but don’t overlook some of the more exotic options like Tom Kha soup (a coconut milk based spicy soup) or Pad Talay (a stir fried seafood dish with a healthy serving of chilli).
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Dishes range from 13 and 20 dollars and BKK Boy has a $15 Eftpos minimum, so maybe add a drink or one of the various side dishes if you go for a cheaper option like I did.
They are open for lunch and dinner, til 8.30 pm on weekdays and Sundays, and are open until 9 pm on Fridays and Saturdays.
BKK Boy Thai Street Kitchen is located at 361A Pakington Street, Newtown.
