Phat Monk - NEW LAMBTON

The food at this restaurant is very clean and fresh. The hand-made fish cakes are delicious. My favorites are the fried rice and beef salad, which never disappoint. I did find the pad Thai to be a bit too sweet for my taste, but after speaking with the waitress, the chef adjusted the sweetness level for me. The service is lovely and the staff are friendly.

We started with chicken skewers and satay sauce. The sauce was decent, but the skewers seemed to be deep fried instead of grilled and were small and dry. For our main dishes, we ordered: 1) Musaman curry, described as having a thick, rich sauce. The meat was dry and bland, the potatoes were okay, but the sauce was watery and not as good as what you can make at home. 2) Chicken green curry had some heat, but the sauce was too watery and lacking in greens and meat. 3) Pad See Ew was average with a burnt aftertaste. In my opinion, I will not be returning to Phat Monk. Newcastle has many excellent Thai restaurants with extensive menus and delicious flavors.

The food was delicious, but I was taken aback by the prices. Perhaps the rent is high. I will not be returning, as you can find equally delicious Thai food at a more affordable price elsewhere. If the prices were on par with other restaurants, I would definitely come back here. However, the steep increase is not worth it for me.

Other than curry puffs and money bags, food very disappointing and somewhat overpriced. Into the stir fires the remark was "This not like Thai food!"--soy sauce and heaps of Bok Choy- none ot the usual Thai flavours. Prawn dish cooked with the prawn heads was not worth the $26. Rice charged at $3 a person. $12 for boiled rice for 4. a little over the top. Giving a local a go, but will not again. Many more constructive and cost effective alternatives.

First, my wife have eaten literally hundreds of Thai meals, all over Australia and around the world, including Thailand. We haven't eaten here at our local Thai for a few years, but thought we would try it again with friends. Very disappointing!!! The menu is very limited. The curry puff and money bag entrees were minuscule. The 5 prawns in the main dish were ridiculously overpriced at $26, considering they were mainly heads and tails. The stir fried chicken was ok, but the beef in the mussaman curry was tough and stringy. $12 for corkage and $12 for boiled rice was exorbitant for a little suburban restaurant, compared to many other Thai places we have eaten. We certainly would not recommend this place and probably won't go back again. A pity, because it is conveniently local, but $52 a couple is over the top for what was a very ordinary meal.( and the portions were not generous!!!)