Overall score: 78/100 (take away adjusted)
Please NOTE: The Chameleon is switching to a first person writing style as of June, 2014
Travelling regional Queensland is a wonderful experience for many a tourist visiting our shores, but for us Aussies, it's often just a bland experience of one red-neck town after another. Sometimes though, there are places that surprise me, as was the culinary case when I visited Rockhampton not too long ago. You see, for me, Rockhampton has always been that regional hub that you pass through, notice a few people driving their cars with their Acubras on, beef, beef and more pub beef, a place where you wouldn't really see anything 'special' if you know what I mean. Anyway, I was in town and was looking for a place to get some takeaway; Urbanspoon led me to Thai Tanee
THE EXPERIENCE
I wasn't quite sure what I wanted to eat on this occasion, so I went to this restaurant at the recommendation of my Urbanspoon app and found a nice, neat, well setup Thai place not far from the CBD. The hostess who took our order was very friendly and there were smiles aplenty which made the experience of ordering very pleasant indeed. For a second, I was lost in this clash of cultures; Rockhampton. Thai food. No Acubras in sight. A nice Asian inspired restaurant.
THE FOOD
As this is a 'takeaway' review, a lot of the final score reflects the actual taste and texture of the food, the balance between dishes, but not the presentation. And as you can see, 78 was the final result. Thai Tanee threw up some amazing surprises, but then there were some unfortunate let downs in critical parts of the dishes. As a staring example, the skewers. The taste was absolutely awesome; nice peanuty flavours dominated each bite and the extra peanut sauce was a very nice touch. But, and unfortunately there was a big but, the chicken was very much dry.
On the plus side, we found a small serving of cucumber salad with our order and this tasted absolutely divine. It was great that the dryness could be offset just a little with this little pearler of a salad. The main dish was pork and it too was dry; a significant mistake with this type of meat. Again, there was something which offset this setback, and this time it was int he form of the rice. Oh, that delicious rice! It was cooked to perfection and the addition of a very Thai inspired piece of lime worked outstandingly.
On the plus side, we found a small serving of cucumber salad with our order and this tasted absolutely divine. It was great that the dryness could be offset just a little with this little pearler of a salad. The main dish was pork and it too was dry; a significant mistake with this type of meat. Again, there was something which offset this setback, and this time it was int he form of the rice. Oh, that delicious rice! It was cooked to perfection and the addition of a very Thai inspired piece of lime worked outstandingly.
OVERALL
Thai Tanee is a cultural oddity in Rockhampton; a Thai restaurant in the regional beef capital. The food was a mixed bag unfortunately, and the spots of brilliance that came out of the plastic bag, was ruined by dryness where dryness can not be. I would like to re-sample this restaurant next time I visit Rocky, but as a sit down instead. 78/100
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