New Thai restaurant lands on Errol St

Adding to the variety of multicultural cuisine on offer in North Melbourne’s heart of dining, Somkhid Heaven Thai Kitchen opened its doors to customers in late July.

Owner Garry told North West City News that opening a Thai restaurant had been a long-held dream for himself and his wife Wanphen, who is head chef.

“Fifteen years ago I promised my wife, her cooking was so good, that one day I would open a small café for her,” Garry said.

This is Garry’s first time running a restaurant and Wanphen’s first time cooking professionally; she aims to serve customers the kind of authentic, home-style Thai cooking that she’s been doing her whole life.

“Ninety per cent of her cooking techniques are from her mother and village, and she has a very unique, traditional style with her cooking,” Garry said.

“The emphasis is on fresh ingredients, made to order in relation to different people’s tastes for spiciness.”

The menu is full of Thai classics like tom yum soup and Garry’s personal pick: massaman curry, packed with vegies and topped with roasted peanuts.

Also on offer are a range of street food dishes like som tum Thai, which is a green papaya salad, and larb moo, a minced pork salad seasoned with a mix of herbs, spices, and tossed with toasted sticky rice.

“So far, the sticky rice and mango with my wife’s special coconut sauce has been a hit,” Garry said.

And locals will no longer need to head into the city for their bubble tea fix – for $6 a cup, the restaurant offers flavours like brown sugar, taro milk tea and Thai milk tea, which gets its distinctive flavour from being brewed with spices and topped with condensed milk.

“We’ve been open now for just under three months, and we’ve been given a great reception by the locals in North Melbourne,” Garry said.

Garry lived in North Melbourne himself around 60 years ago, on Spencer St.

“We wanted to be close to the city, and we found this shop in North Melbourne that was closed and thought it was a golden opportunity to open a Thai shop on Errol St and bring an authentic taste and flavour, seeing that there was such a variety of restaurants on Errol St, from Korean, Chinese, Turkish, French, Vietnamese,” he said.

“We’re loving the people of North Melbourne. It’s like being in a country town, but on the edge of the city. And they’re accepting our small Thai kitchen with open arms.”

Somkhid Heaven Thai Kitchen is open every day from 12pm until 10pm. •