Thai-riffic, Thai-tanic, Thai me up, Thai me bloody kangaroo down sport - Battle of the Brands down under (guess which cuisine?).

by Michal Hicks published 9th Apr 2009

It's a while since I've been in Sydney but after a recent return, thankfully not a lot has changed. The blue sky is still larger than life, the people, still as chilled as ever and the beaches still make me feel like there's no place like home.

One thing has changed though. The number of Thai restaurants is growing faster than a bunch of Roo's on heat. It baffles me. I mean, how can there be so many places offering the same menu variations and still it be in such high demand?

It seems that hoards of our South East Asian friends have shared the good word that us Skippies are obsessed with fast, fresh, street-style wok food. And good on them. I love their entrepreneurial spirit but when do we tire of the same old Pad Thai? Seems like NEVER.

But it's the business names that amuse me most.

Thai-ger - for the jungle conservationists
Thai Bo - for those fit Bondi bodies
Bow-Thai - for the city suits
Thai-phoon - may need to rethink this one thanks to the devastation from the Tsunami.
Thai-riffic - bloody brilliant like it says on the tin
MyThai - cocktails poolside of course

... and my personal favourite, Thai-tanic. Who'd name a place after a sinking ship? Says a lot to a bank manager about the business' ambition don't you think?

How many more variations can our Thai community come up with? And what distinguishes them from their competitors?

A stroll down to Harbour suburb, Kirribilli can make you feel like you're on a set of a Thai cartoon with the backdrop repeating itself over and over and over... each shop fit-out is a slight variation on the next and if you look carefully, the token chilli or kaffir leaf motif can be found either on the menus, walls or staff t-shirts. At one point there were 4 Thai joints within 20 paces of each other - all busy, most of the time but serving exactly the same menu.

Stir Crazy, stands out as the leader in this idyllic little community and, to get a bit nerdy on you, the 'food quality for service speed ratio' is most impressive. They've started to rollout the brand, which is a plus seeing as the place is constantly rammed - Strongly recommended to anyone visiting.

I guess with such an amazing provision of quality of ingredients in Oz and the relatively low cost being passed onto the customer, our insatiable appetite for all things Thai will ensure owners' pockets are sufficiently lined. Perhaps then they'd like to invest in Ignite's services and help us open an office IN THE SUN.

Eat up Sydney!

Author : Michal Hicks

Michal was our Marketing Director and currently has his own company called Rudolf � The Lone Marketeer. Michal�s works with small and medium sized companies using innovative technology and internet tools to help improve their business.
View more info about Michal

Tags : Roll-out restaurants | Food | Independent restaurants