My family and I finally made the trip out to Ballarat for Fathers Day dinner at Jasmine Thai. I’d long been anticipating a visit for quite some time due to their gluten free menu and guide (check it out here). I called beforehand, to confirm that the staff properly understood gluten free requirements, and was pleased that the chefs were well informed and that the gluten free menu had been a part of Jasmine Thai for a few years now.
All meals except for the Yung with lamb and Yung with pork (the lamb is the best choice to make by the way) were made gluten free upon the friendly Trisha telling us that the two dishes apart from my own could be cooked gluten free despite not being on the gluten free menu, so I wasn’t limited to one meal – said Trisha in similar words!
Entree was the Thai Satay with chicken ($10): The chicken satay featured thick but creamy and lumpy peanut sauce that melted in the mouth, and was rich with peanut flavour. The orange was a really original touch (wasn’t sure if it was meant to be eaten afterwards or squeezed on the chicken but tasted great either way). We couldn’t stop raving about this dish!
Pahd Thai with chicken and tofu ($20.90): The tofu was grilled on the outside, soft inside and had soaked up the flavour of the dish. The noodles were perfectly cooked, large onion slivers were sautéed until soft, and the chicken was exceptionally tender. Carrot, spring onion and a little egg were within the dish. The dish was garnished with the usual crushed peanuts. Overall the Pahd Thai was quite sweet but packed full of flavour. Definitely up there with my favorites!
Pahd Med-ma-muang with chicken & sweet chilli sauce ($21): Garlic seemed to be the standout flavour of this dish, though overall the sauce/marinade was very sweet and accompanied the tender chicken, as well as the snow peas, large onion slices, carrot and capsicum perfectly, though the cashews would have been better split to better soak up the flavour. Another dish strong in flavour.
The only less than fantastic dish was the standard oily vegetarian Thai fried rice ($13).
I’d read reviews stating that the decor was drab or outdated, but I thought it was quite authentic with various Thai trinkets, artwork and wooden furniture, and the traditional Thai music playing at a soft volume was obviously fitting. Service is on point and so was every dish for the most part. The hour-long drive is most definitely worth it.
