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One rainy night in Sydney, we decided to try something new and go for a Lao inspired cuisine. It was as usual, difficult to find parking along Illawarra Road, then our luck changed, a spot opened up slap-bang in front of this restaurant. We arrived without a booking, but fortunately for us, we were able to be accommodated.

The restaurant’s ambience is mood inspiring, softly lit and minimalist in style with few art works on the wall, solid colour schemes and a special board promoting the evening’s special. The main counter is in the middle with the kitchen space behind.

We love spicy Thai sausages, so we were excited to try out the Lao sausages, so we ordered the Homemade Lao pork sausages (Sai Gok) – $12.90 along with couple of Lao beers. The  sausages were soft, tender and juicy, with a light crispy skin in parts that just melted in the mouth. The dipping sauce was tasty, and the subtle hint of spice was tempered by the refreshing cold beer.

Second dish to arrive was the Grilled Beef Salad (Yum Nam Tok) – $13.90, grilled beef mixed with Spanish onions, fresh herbs, chilli, roasted rice powder and lemon lime dressing. The ingredients are similar to that of a classic Thai beef salad, tender slices of beef with smokey flavours, the fresh herbs and onions providing that punch to the tastebuds.

The final dish was the Seafood Glass noodle salad  (Yum Woon Sen)- $14.90, glass noodles tossed in Spanish onions, shredded onions, fresh herbs, chilli and sweet tangy dressing. This is a hands down dish, it has many textures and contrasting flavours. The glass noodles were evenly soft and pliable, the seafood ingredients  fresh and the chilli dressing sweet, tangy and pipping hot.

Lao dishes are served with sticky rice and it comes in a cute small woven basket, regular steamed rice is also available.

Tip: Listen to the wait staff when ordering how hot you would like your dishes, as hot definitely means hotter than you might expect!

Papaya Grill

393 Illawarra Rd. Marrickville NSW
02 8068 0418
http://www.papayagrill.com.au