Doytao Thai is a place to go when you're in a hurry (and you've booked) because the food comes out lightning fast. Despite the place being full, our four dishes arrived within minutes.
The food looks the part, nice colour, fresh ingredients, but I struggled to find flavour or challenge in the food. My taste buds couldn't find basil in the basil chicken, it lacked fish sauce and despite looking hot, it was very mild.
Probably the least successful dish in our order was the lamb salad. The lamb came out in cubes rather than thin slices, which didn't help because the meat was over cooked, making the cubes a tad tough. Celery instead of cucumber rendered the dish less Thai for me. Any strong taste also went AWOL.
The grilled chicken was the most successful dish for me. Well cooked, good strong flesh that was well cooked but not tough. No complaints about flavour here, because, well the dish is meant to be relatively clean.
It seems to me like Doytao made a conscious decision to tone down their food to make it more accessible to Australians. Maybe that explains their success in inner, southern and south western Sydney.
Doytao is the place to go for if you want an introduction to Thai or if you're not into strong Thai flavours. Here you also get very efficient, friendly and fast service. It's definitely not the place if you've eaten street food in Thailand recently or you feel like a challenge.
Doytao Thai
545 King St, Newtown
(02) 9517 1051
but where's the pho? hehe looks like you're blogging about all foods now. looks like fast service. they must have be wondering why you weren't eating anything hehe i've been there a couple of times. westernised thai for sure :-)
ReplyDeleteI think this place is where I first ate Thai Food. Being an Aussie it was a good introduction for me (plus it was close to my house). After going to Thailand I now realise how mild and different their food is to real Thai.
ReplyDeleteI could have slammed it but really thought about it and realized they probably provide a good intro for many who haven't had much exp with Thai
ReplyDeleteI agree, they're FAST! But I prefer Thai La Ong (on the other side of King St), better taste & cheaper.
ReplyDeleteGuess I have to give them full marks for being fast, actually have gone off Thai in newtown a bit after this experience, but once I get my resilience back, will try Thai La Ong
ReplyDeleteIf you book ahead for lunch with a group at Thai La Ong you get a free Red Bean dessert, or you used to. Doytao is great for those that 'don't like Thai that much', it is a good half way point that pleases most people.
ReplyDeleteHey Alison, love red bean dessert, though it's not to everyone's taste, thanks for the tip
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