Zaap by Chang Thai Lao Restaurant, Cabramatta

I've been wanting to try Zaap Lao Thai restaurant in Cabramatta for the longest time.  Every time we walked past, their menu board would catch our attention.  It is so tempting, and honestly, pretty hard to resist!  But somehow, every single time, we'd already eaten somewhere else and would tell ourselves, "Next time!"

Well... "next time" finally happened.

I think one reason we kept missing it is that the restaurant is slightly tucked away inside an alley on the second floor.  The sign is clearly visible from the main road, but the actual restaurant is a little hidden, so it's easy to walk past without realising there's spacious restaurant upstairs.

Once we finally made our way in, we were actually surprised by how spacious the place was.  And of course, seeing the menu in person made choosing what to eat even harder because there were so many things we wanted to try!

After much discussion (and probably too much menu staring), we settled on our top four.

First up was the deep-fried tofu and taro, served with a sweet and salty dipping sauce and crushed peanuts.  These were SO good.  They were fried to that perfect golden colour - crispy on the outside while still deliciously soft inside.  The dipping sauce with the crushed peanuts was the perfect little extra touch.

Then came the Luang Prabang-style papaya salad platter, which was basically a feast on its own.  It came with fried chicken wings, moo yor (Northeastern Thai pork sausage), pork crackling and fresh rice noodle alongside the papaya salad.

The papaya salad was spot on for us.  It had a good level of heat without completely overpowering everything else and the sourness was nicely balanced.  Combined with the crispy pork crackling and all the other sides, there was so much going on in one plate.

We also ordered the grilled chicken, which was charred beautifully on the outside, full of flavour and still juicy inside.  Definitely one of those dishes where you just keep reaching for another piece.

And lastly, we had the Thai-style grilled beef steak.  Honestly, this one surprised us in the best way.  The beef was surprisingly tender and really tasty and those roasted garlic on the side!  That made me very happy.

Overall, we had such a great meal at Zaap Lao Thai Restaurant.  It was one of the places we kept saying we'd try "next time" - and now I'm wondering why we waited so long.  There are still so many things on the menu we didn't get to try, so we'll definitely be back to work our way through more of it.

Zaap by Chang Thai Lao Restaurant

Shop 6, Level 1, 50 Park Rd, Cabramatta

Ph: +61 2 8786 2829

Open: Daily from 11am - 9pm