Ever wondered if that dodgy looking Asian takeaway place near your house is any good? It could be authentic and a fantastic hidden gem you will never discover, or it will be an MSG filled grease hole, that you regret you tried. Sadly I've had the experience of the MSG bastardized hole too many times!

Saipon is the dodgy looking Thai takeaway/restaurant near our place. We had driven past a few times wondering if it was any good.

It was a cold, wintery, rainy night. I had an epic headache, and we had no food to cook. After a quick trip to the shops to pick up Hamsley's new specks, I really felt like Thai food. That night was the night we tried Saipon (obviously… it's what the title of the post is!)

We pulled up infront, and there was a Westerner at the counter…. could this be a bad sign? We checked the menu in the window and it had the dishes we wanted to order. Hamsley said we could try somewhere else if I wasn't happy with how it looked, but I saw Thai people cooking in the kitchen, so I had faith.

As we waited for our food to be cooked, a few orders were picked up. Thai music played through the micro stereo, and a fake aquarium added to the typical cheap Asian decor. I love at places like this. And the quirky sign that hung in the window made me feel transported back to somewhere in Asia.

Our food was ready and we took it home…. with a free bag of prawn crackers! Gotta love free prawn crackers.. I don't care where you come from!


Apart from the slices of onion that are far from authentic, it was a great pad thai! I squeezed some lime into it for a bit more moisture and sourness.


We also got a large coconut rice for $4.00
When pouring into the bowl, it was a bit runny and watery compared to other panning curries I've had. It did smell good though. Teamed nicely with the coconut rice, this curry was packed full of chilli but tasted just like any other panang curry I've loved.

There was alot of food, we are having the leftovers tonight!
I'm SO glad we have a good Thai place near us! It will be handy on those cbf nights, and the fact that it is so close to home makes it even more appealing!



We followed it up with the new delice flavours from Lindt since I had a coupon.


To be honest we weren't that impressed. The olive oil one had a funny taste, even when teamed with a white chocolate filling. And the salted caramel just seemed way too salty, but it was my preferred of the two flavours. I'll stick to passionfruit for now, until I can get to Zumbo!

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The plan was, Miss A and I would have a girls day; brunch and maybe spot of shopping. We thought brunch up at one of our favorite cafes in the hills... but after much thought, we realised we needed to go shopping to get birthday presents and spend vouchers. Sick of hitting up Chadstone, we decided we would shop at Doncaster; but where to have brunch? Then I remembered Moka Pot! I had such a great experience there last time, and I knew Miss A would like it.

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I have wanted to make this recipe since I got Bill Granger's, Simply Bill cookbook many years ago. The picture looked like something I could happily live on, and a good variation from the tradition beef bolognese.

The recipe is really quite easy, you could easily make it after a day at the office. Once you have done the basics and everything is in the pan simmering away; just cook the pasta and you'll have dinner in no time.
I found I had to add a bit of sugar to the sauce as it was quite salty. The parsley really cuts through and adds a lovely freshness to the sauce. Be sure to add the parsley in at the end to ensure the fresh flavour.

We now have a rule in our house; no seconds. With summer on it's way, it's time to shed some of the winter fat we have accumulated for hibernation. So we can only have the seconds as another meal the day after or later on in the week. We were both really wanting seconds of this pasta, but the best thing is we are looking forward to the leftovers tonight for dinner!

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