Son In Law is hidden just off one of my favourite foodie strips in Melbourne, Smith St Collingwood, on Johnston St. Easy to miss, but is very, very worth seeking out. A slight turn from the main drag will take you to a humble, colourful and friendly eatery serving up some creative and innovative Thai and South East Asian dishes at very reasonable prices.
This new husband and wife venture has been open for about three months and their Son In Law eggs have to be the most instagrammed eggs I have seen for a while, and it is easy to see why. Like the colourful and vibrant interior of the restaurant, the dishes are served on gorgeous and colourful crockery and plated beautifully. The restaurant has a few different areas to sit in, including a lovely little courtyard out the back. The owner, Tony, explained to us that his wife is the chef and he is the ‘kitchen hand’. When I queried the name of the restaurant and whether it was based on their delicious son in law eggs, he told us that most of the recipes are based on ones passed down by his mother in law, which is the link to the name of the eatery.
There are some more traditional Thai dishes on the menu; your old favourites Pad Thai, Massaman Curry and Thai Green Curry are still very much present. I am sure these dishes are beautiful, but we decided to try some of Son In Law’s more modern, exciting dishes.
The Son In Law eggs were everything I had hoped for after salivating over them on Instagram. Looking beautiful on a bright plate, they were soft little morsels of medium boiled eggs, fried and topped with sweet tamarind, chilli and fried shallots.
The Sweet and Crunchy Tamarind Salad was a really pleasant surprise. A light and crispy accompaniment to some of the heavier mains or the perfect main for a vegetarian, this salad contained some of my favourite Asian ingredients- bean shoots, carrot, green apple, roasted coconut and crispy noodles.
The battered tiger prawns were big and juicy, and served simply with mint, coriander, red onion, fried shallots and chilli jam which really allowed the prawns to be the main attraction in the dish. The herbs were a nice fresh addition to cut through the batter.
The deep fried chicken ribs were the owner’s top recommended dish, so even though I am not a huge fried chicken fiend, we had to try them and were really impressed. Think KFC but without the greasy, fatty bits… a very crispy, slightly spicy batter and well cooked chicken. Is Thai Fried Chicken a thing? It is now.
Dessert was a real treat; the second dessert in two months that have embraced a delicious duo of ingredients that should feature together all the time- chocolate and marshmellow! Son In Law does these in a puff, similar pastry to a curry puff, stuffed with oozy Nutella and Marshmellow and served with berries, crushed cashew nuts and vanilla ice cream. Small enough to just
Thai is something that Melbourne already does really well, so it is impressive to see that Son In Law is managing to crack into the competitive Thai market by bringing some new flavours to the yard and embracing the ‘small plate’, ‘large plate’ tapas/share food vibe that Melbournians love so much.
Please note: Foodie Melbourne dined as a guest of Son In Law, but all opinions are genuine.
I hope you are having a delicious week,
Foodie Melbourne
Foodie Melbourne 