Monkey King Thai, Newport

The locals are loving Monkey King Thai in Newport. High quality thai awaits for you including the soft shell crab above.
Monkey King Thai in Newport is located a few minutes away from the beach. The owners have had decades in running restaurants across Sydney so I had high expectations. There's an array of Thai and Asian-fusion dishes along with a stand alone bar and wine menu (including some on-tap beers). I came here with three friends so we ordered lots of food. 
There's a lunch special but I strongly encourage you to check out their full menu. To start off I order the Crispy Soft Shell Crab (Top Photo, $10.90). It's a soft shell crab with the thinnest of batters and moist flesh makes this a stand out entree, something to savour for the flavour. It's light as a cloud. A definite recommend. A favourite is also the satay chicken below ($8.90). It's more of a chup-a-chups bite sized stick with a nice thin peanut sauce containing lots of crushed peanuts chunks.

My favourite entree is the Piggy Puffs (Below, $7.90). This is the P Diddy of the curry puff world because the puffs are stars with a light filling. The portion of pork mince encased in a puffy pastry knocks all the other curry puffs . They are delicious and absolute perfection. I agree that this is a MUST try entree. 

An Asian Fusion dish is the steamed dumplings ($7.90, above) which is a sweet shiu mai with a bit of light garlic.  It's a nice dish but not really thai, although perhaps the locals want a bit of fusion. For a snack I quite enjoyed the prawn crackers ($5.90, below) with chilli jam; crunchy brown crackers with a smokey chili jam that has some prawn paste. It's a pringles effect. 

I always order the chicken pad thai (above, $15.90) as it's my favourite. This one is better than most as the ingredients taste fresh and like a good pasta, the noodles are cooked al dente so they don't fall apart when handled and retain a bit of satisfying chewiness. I'd recomment this dish.

The staff also suggested the Pla lard prik ($31.90) which is a fried barramundi; accompanied with fried basil. The sauce is a sweet chili with tamarind. I'd suggest this main with some rice and to share.

Another staple for many is the Massaman curry. I tried the massaman curry with lamb cutlets ($22.90, above); I’m a fan of lamb cutlets so I enjoyed this dish, well marinated and the curry is creamy and sweet.

The highlight and favourite main is the Crispy Pork Belly with Chinese Broccoli (below, $18.90). It's called the Pad Kana Moo Grob on the menu. THIS IS A MUST TRY! Its cooked so it melts in your mouth and finished off with a stir fry making all surfaces crispy and sweet, it will give you a such a big mouth-gasm you won’t care if it makes you fat – of course there is some Chinese broccoli to make you feel healthier after all the pork belly is gone.

For dessert, check out the Monkey love (above) which is green tea ice cream with a baked banana wrapped in pastry. The other option is the Black Rice Pudding which some custard jelly, a hint of creamy sauce (coconut/condensed milk), and sticky rice that’s not cooked to buggery and I’m in heaven. The group is split and half prefer monkey love and the other prefer the black rice pudding.

Overall, Monkey King Thai is a Thai-fusion restaurant with some stand out dishes. I strongly recommend the Puffy Pigs, Pork Belly and some of the Thai staples. In good weather, you could make it part of a beach day getaway.

Prices: $40 per person

Location: 335 Barrenjoey Rd, Newport NSW 2106

This was the first official outing of a Weekend Food Escapes team comprising an awesome foursome on a pilgrimage north of the harbour. Thanks to Monkey King Thai for the invitation and looking after us. Thanks to Hai for taking the lead on this blog post.

Weekendfoodescapes dined as guests of Monkey King Thai.