Exploring the flavours at Thai Ginger and Xpresso

Thai Ginger

Where: Suncoast Casino, Battery Beach Road, North Beach.

Open: Daily noon to 9pm

Call: 073 515 0265

The Poet found Thai Ginger, a newish restaurant in Sun Coast occupying an unlikely sliver of space between Havana Grill and the Ocean Basket. It’s a simple restaurant and our waitress greets us warmly. We soon have Jamesons in hand and she is taking us through the menu. It’s quite extensive with a number of different saucing options.

When we’re not sure what we want she gladly brings us little bowls of the different sauces to try, to help us make up our mind.

We started with some lovely crispy chicken wings (R85) in a sticky but fiery sauce, rather than sweet chilli. The crispy salt and pepper calamari (R85) topped with onions and peppers was enjoyable. As were the crispy prawn won tons (R79). It was only the Thai prawn and crab cakes (R85) which didn’t really hit the mark. Strangely dense, gelatinous  and almost chewy, these were also rather bland. Those dipping sauces came into their own. We happily shared everything. 

Other options might include paper prawns or grilled calamari with red curry paste and even duck samoosas. There’s also a range of salads and tom yum soups.

Mains would be more sharing.

Under specialities we tried both the crispy chicken (R195) and crispy duck (R235) The former in their Kung Thai sauce of chilli paste, garlic, spring onions and lemon juice which I had identified from the sauce test and the chu chee sauce which includes lime leaf, basil and coconut milk for Trevor on the duck. Both birds were suitably crisped to perfection, although I preferred the more pungent Kung Thai to the sweeter, coconut heavy chu chee. This definitely felt more like a curry than a sauce.

Vivek’s top pic was the lamb and noodle stir fry with chilli and basil (R220) which we all enjoyed. There are curries that include angry, green, red, massaman and panang. But we chose two seafood dishes to round out the offering.

One was a mixed seafood wok fry with ginger and mushroom which took in prawns, calamari and fish. It was pleasant, if a shade bland. And then there was the whole fish in a sticky ginger and lemon sauce (R349). There is a way of serving a whole fish so you don’t end up dealing with mountains of bones, which many Asian restaurants don’t worry about. And when the Poet sent it back to the kitchen to be cut up, it came back in some very strange pieces cut across the back bone. Nevermind, Karthik and I tucked in, navigating our way through the bones for what was a truly delicious and tasty dish.

Desserts consist of fried banana - something that will never be a favourite - chocolate spring rolls or ice-cream and chilli chocolate sauce. None really appealed so we went home for coffee and sweet treats.

Food: 3 ½

Service: 3 ½

Ambience: 3

The Bill: R1904 for five

Xpresso

Where: 157 Victoria Road, Pietermaritzburg

Open: Mon to Friday 7am to 5.30pm, Sat and Sun 8am to 4pm

When I first started judging for the Sunday Tribune’s Cafe Society competition some 25 years ago, cappuccinos had just broken the R10 barrier. If you were lucky you could still get one for R9.95. And we debated whether to include one “exorbitant” coffee because it cost a staggering R14. It was top notch though.

Today if you’re lucky you might find a cappy in the upper R20s. Most are in the mid to upper thirties and those staggering ones, well they’ve reached the big four-oh. Not one-four.

Can we turn back the clock? Well at Xpresso in Pietermaritzburg you can.  

And not only for a cappuccino. All coffees and all delicious freshly baked muffins, pies, sausage rolls and Danish pastries are R14 each. The cappy was on the milky side but pleasant. The PMB Advocate had sprinkled it with cinnamon to make sure. The apple Danish was sweet but delicious. And before 9am on January 2 the place was absolutely buzzing.

Plus everything’s halaal.

The Bill: R84 for two