Ped’s Thai Cuisine, Camberwell by Benny

There are many reasons why you dine out rather than cook at home. One of the best is that the home cook has a massive bandage around his thumb, courtesy of slicing through it with a chef’s knife. That incident triggered a dash to the local hospital emergency department, leaving our dinner guests at home with the dogs. Told to expect a three hour wait before treatment, Bilby Blue returned home to finish the cooking and entertain on her own – our guests carefully inspecting the stir fry to ensure they avoided eating bits of Benny.  My thumb required six stitches and cooking on subsequent nights was a bit of a challenge.

Roti

Ped’s Thai Cuisine is only about 12 months old, but the eponymous Ped has been operating notable Thai restaurants for over 30 years. He retired a few years ago, but fortunately for us he is back, clearly enjoying greeting customers and making sure they are comfortable. Ped’s Thai has a welcoming informality that is evident in everything from Ped’s enthusiastic greeting to the plethora of Thai trinkets and swathes of brightly patterned silks scattered liberally around the dining area, softening the otherwise unadorned walls.

The substantial menu offers all of the standard Thai dishes, but with some surprises – several seemingly familiar dishes unexpectedly include lots of fresh fruit.

We started with an entrée of Tod Mon Pla, otherwise known as Thai fish cakes – a classic Thai dish that is often given a personal spin. Ped’s are obviously homemade and very good, nicely complemented by the traditional sweet vinegar dipping sauce.

For mains we selected the Gang Massaman – Stewed Beef Curry – and the Yum Ped Krob – duck salad – accompanied by jasmine rice. The curry had wonderfully tender beef that easily fell apart when persuaded by a fork and spoon. It was served with chunks of potato and deep fried strips of sweet potato for decoration. Its very mild curry sauce with cashew nuts had a nice depth of flavour, but I would have preferred a bit more heat and will ask for a peppier version next time. I am confident that Ped will be happy to oblige.

Ped suggested we order a roti (see first pic) to accompany the Massaman curry, and he was right! It was meant to be eaten by hand with roti.

The Yum Ped Krob mixed slices of spicy crispy duck with fruit – apple, red and green grapes, pineapple and lychee – lettuce and onion with a lemon dressing. The fruit provided a lot of fresh flavours that combined well with the duck, resulting in a tasty dish.

Several desserts were available, but we had eaten more than enough and did not indulge.

Verdict

We really liked it.

Cheap eats.

Overall

Peds Thai has a home-style feel to it, both in service and food – in a good way! I would be happy to drop in anytime for a quick meal for two or an inexpensive feast with friends.

We also had a demonstration of vegetable carving from Ped’s sister – a lot of her work is displayed around the restaurant and garnishes many of the dishes.

Find it at

Ped's Thai Cuisine
Shop 2
1415 Toorak Road
Camberwell 3124 Vic
Phone (03) 9809 1212