Beyond Bangkok: Ladyboy Takes a Journey to Southern Thailand
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There’s more to Thai food than Pad Thai and green curry, and Ladyboy Dining & Bar in Richmond is making a pretty convincing case for venturing beyond the usual favourites.
The Bridge Road restaurant has launched Beyond Bangkok, a rotating regional dining series designed to explore different parts of Thailand through food and drink. The first chapter, Southern Borderlands, heads to the country’s south, drawing inspiration from Hat Yai, Songkhla, Phuket and Satun.
At the helm is Chef Gun, who grew up in Hat Yai and has cooked across Thailand and internationally before bringing his experience to Melbourne. For this first chapter, his cooking focuses on the flavours associated with southern Thailand — fresh turmeric, wild herbs, coconut, seafood and plenty of heat.
We worked our way through the entire special menu, starting with the Crab Tartlet, a neat little pastry filled with spiced blue swimmer crab and southern yellow coconut curry, finished with crispy betel leaf. It’s an elegant introduction to the bold, aromatic flavours that define the region.
The Southern Kua Curry – Market Fish takes things in a more substantial direction, pairing pan-seared market fish with a dry southern turmeric curry, charred okra and coconut rice. The turmeric brings colour and warmth without masking the delicate fish.
Dessert keeps the southern theme going with Black Sticky Rice, served with house-smoked coconut cream, coconut macaroon ice cream and a sesame tuile. Smoky, creamy, nutty and sweet, it provides a fitting finish to the spice-heavy dishes.
The Beyond Bangkok experience isn’t limited to food, either. The accompanying drinks include a Coconut Martini, made with vodka, Noilly Prat vermouth, Malibu and fresh coconut water, while the Tart Theory Sour, a 6.5% collaboration brew from Rocky Ridge Brewing Co. and Bangkok’s Samata Brewing, brings pandan, toasted coconut and vanilla flavours with a tart finish.
Of course, it would be difficult to visit Ladyboy without sampling some of the regular menu, which continues to offer the bold, shareable style the Richmond venue is known for.
The BBQ Lamb Ribs, coated in a red curry glaze, deliver the sticky, spicy combination that makes them particularly hard to stop eating. Meanwhile, the Penang Curry – Great Southern Beef Rib is a rich, slow-cooked affair, with a four-hour braised beef rib served alongside eggplant, fresh herbs and beanshoots. The latter is one of the restaurant’s established signatures and sits comfortably alongside the new regional dishes.
Beyond Bangkok is an interesting evolution for Ladyboy because it looks beyond the familiar idea of Thai cuisine and instead puts regionality front and centre. Rather than treating Thailand as one homogenous culinary destination, the series plans to move through different regions, with each chapter running for two months before the next begins.
For its opening chapter, southern Thailand makes a compelling starting point. The food is bold and aromatic, with the combination of turmeric, coconut, herbs, seafood and chilli giving the menu a distinctly different personality from the Thai dishes many Melburnians already know.
Located at 394 Bridge Road, Richmond, Ladyboy combines its dining room with a cocktail bar and open courtyard, making it as suited to a long dinner with friends as it is to a casual drink and a few plates.
Beyond Bangkok: Southern Borderlands is available for a limited two-month season, alongside Ladyboy’s regular menu. For anyone who thinks they already know Thai food, this is a tasty reminder that there’s an entire country still left to explore.
Location: 394 Bridge Rd, Richmond
Phone: (03) 9421 3206
