Monday, April 11, 2011

Red Ass Indian & Thai Cafe (Adelaide)

Address: 2/120 Semaphore Rd, Semaphore SA, Australia
Tel: (08) 8341 7878
Website: www.redasscurry.com
Trading Hours: 5pm till late, 7 nights. Lunches by appointment.

I have to say that with a name like "Red Ass", one is often hesitant about making this a dining destination. My craving for Thai food and curiousity for the ' Thai & Indian' theme fusion helped build a bridge to not judge this book by it's cover.

I eyed off the most fusion-y dish on the menu and that happened to be the Indian Mee Goreng, described as 'Hokkien noodles, egg, lamb, cauliflower,carrots, capsicum, peas, bokchoy & beansprouts with a touch of curry'. I was disappointed that I didn't get any cauliflower, but this dish lived up to every expectation - mee goreng is traditionally a Malaysian staple, but the lamb & light curry flavour was reminiscent of a hearty Indian meal. I did take a photo of this dish but mobile phones do miraculous things such as not saving your photos. Looks like any other mee goreng!

Below: Garlic Prawns 'Succulent Tiger Prawns with crispy fresh broccoli, capsicum, carrot, zucchini & snowpeas with garlic in an oyster & soy sauce'. I love the abundance of fresh cut vegetables and the generosity of flavour just from a simple, oyster, soy & garlic stirfry sauce.


All in all, a great dining experience. The meals were all reasonably priced with a great variety that if you were an Adelaide local, you could make a weekly institution. I was a little disappointed with the Roti (we had cheese) - the texture was in between a shallot pancake and uncooked naan.

I think the restaurant owner came out to help with the waiting - he was efficient, friendly and I am genuinely impressed if the chefs were not from a Thai or Indian background.