Ranong Town

You may not expect to eat wildly impressive Thai food on a quiet residential corner at the foothills of the Dandenong Ranges. And yet, Ranong Town delivers southern Thailand’s distinctive mouth-searing spice and sweet-sour punches with finesse.

Yellow curry splits your brain in two: one side grapples with the mix of green and red Thai chillies in the house-made curry paste as it trips your internal fire alarm. The other can’t stop eating tender barramundi pieces drenched in sour tamarind and lime, despite the burn. Seek comfort in the sweet, cinnamon-scented braised pork belly of moo hong, and the puffy fried omelette with crab meat among its pillowy folds.

A cute assortment of sweets in bamboo baskets includes khanom tan – toddy palm cakes served with freshly grated coconut flesh – and khanom tom, colourful rice-flour dumplings sweetened with shredded coconut.

Good to know: Drop by for weekday lunch when a few dollars are knocked off the price of eight fave dishes.

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A no-frills diner devoted to one of Australia’s favourite noodle soups.