Choo chee curry comes alive in the hands of the talented kitchen team at Porkfat. The red curry made of long red chillies, fish sauce, makrut leaves and palm sugar is poured over a well-presented deep fried golden pomfret ($49) and a far cry from the creamy, soupy coconut sauces you find in Thai restaurants elsewhere. It’s only our second visit, but we’re recognised by the talented floor team and quickly shown to a table on the mezzanine. We brought our own wine (BYO $20/bottle) and by the time we’re watered up and drinking it, the first dish hits our table: Porkfat is tiny so they don’t mess around.
Porkfat’s larb ($37) enlivens your mouth with smoked chilli and the richness of pork fat cut by toasted rice and fresh greens. Chilli here is lively but I beg you not to meddle: let this kitchen continue to balance dishes in the traditional Thai way. Nutty sator beans (sometimes called stink beans) were a highlight in the Queensland king prawn stir-fly ($43). The flavour of the creamy crustaceans was amped with prawn oil balanced with makrut. I ate this meal in the perineum (the weird period between Xmas and New Year) but have been holding off telling you about it because Porkfat don’t reopen until 23 January. It’s worth booking in now though...