Barkly Street stretches down into West Footscray and an an interesting strip of shops. Several businesses and restaurants include an Indian grocer, a smart cafe and Colombian restaurant.
Thai Angels, at 549 Barkly, fits well into this mix, offering a broad selection of Thai food at good prices.
Visually, Thai Angels is immediately striking. Hot-pink walls are dressed in enormous gold fans and beaded artworks; there are statues of Buddha, orange lampshades in the window, and each table has a textured runner down its middle. It all feeds the eye but almost enters the ‘too cluttered’ category. The menu is large but easy to navigate. Starters include meaty pork spring rolls (eight for $8.90) or classic Golden Bags (five for $9.90), which are fried, wrapped chubby parcels of prawn, noodles and herbs that are meaty and delicious.
A serving of warm roti bread ($5) with a side of satay sauce is at once comforting. The rest of the menu is broken into salads, soups, curries and stir fries. In the curries section, you can choose the main component of the dish: meat (chicken, beef or pork), seafood (prawns, calamari or fish) or vegetarian, and then choose the style of curry you’d like, from classics such as red, green or yellow curries. We chose a green beef curry ($17.90). A beautiful ceramic bowl filled with loads of strips of beef and vegetables arrived in a sauce that was well-spiced. I was left thinking I should have asked for hot rather than medium, as it was a little soft on the chilli. You can order mild, medium, Western hot or ‘Thai hot’.
We also ordered a stir-fry of chicken and lemongrass, garlic and vegetables ($17.90), which had no chilli — perfect for children — and was well-balanced in flavour and full of well cooked meat and vegetables.
Thai Angels is great if you’re just starting to explore Thai food as the flavours and spices are tempered for Western palates, but still there’s an authenticity to this place and a very friendly service.
