After six years in its Pulteney Street premises, Soi 38 is moving. In May, the much-loved Thai restaurant will relocate to a bigger space on the corner of Pirie Street and Coromandel Place.
The former Subway has been gutted for a fresh and refined new look – led by architect Walter Brooke – that’ll feature earthy colours such as terracotta and rose and natural materials such as rammed earth inspired by traditional Thai temples.
“It’s interesting because so many people have told us it doesn’t feel Thai at all when Terry’s whole concept was that it finally felt like Thailand,” says Daisy Miller, who owns Soi 38 with Thai-born husband and executive chef Terry Intarakhamhaeng.
The bigger site more than doubles capacity and will have an open kitchen (with counter seats) running the length of the room so guests can watch Intarakhamhaeng and head chef (and new business partner) Pui Kannika in action.
“It’s impressive watching someone cook with a wok as fast as our two chefs can … so we’ve put them on full display,” says Daisy. “Because of the effort in the kitchen, and because we make things from scratch, that’s the theatre.”
But the team’s not saying goodbye to 54 Pulteney Street. Instead, it’ll become a fast, casual spot catering to nearby uni students and busy office workers – and the permanent home for the flame-licked street food of festival pop-up Fire x Soi 38. That means you won’t have to wait till festival time to get your hands on juicy charcoal turmeric chicken, hot dogs with chiang mai sausage and dumplings in curry sauce. The restaurant’s quintessential Thai dishes, such as khao soi (a Northern Thai curry noodle soup) and green curry, will move across too.
“It will be a much more casual vibe than what will be offered at Pirie. Think fast, fun and delicious … Something a little less traditional,” says Daisy.
The new concept allows the team at Pirie Street to rejig its restaurant menu to an offering that’s “more sophisticated and refined and interesting [than] what we do now,” says Intarakhamhaeng. “More adventurous, more offal, more funky.”
“The focus will be really leaning into regional Thai food,” adds Daisy. “Those more recognisable fan favourites that people just know when they go to a Thai restaurant are more likely to be found at Fire x Soi 38, and then the things that … you have to seek out when you’re in Thailand will end up on the menu at Pirie.”
The new menu will delve deeper into the food of southern and western Thailand (and the country’s ethnic minority groups) and introduce meats such as venison and offal. There will also be a fermented fish curry (bara soeng kruang); preserved smoked beef slow cooked in coconut and chilli jam (nua khem tom kati); and roasted banana peppers with fermented fish, chicken and tomato paste (prik karan). Soi 38’s much-loved chive cakes, sago dumplings, pork belly and Pad Thai will remain.
The move and opening of Fire x Soi 38 are the latest in a series of changes for the restaurant. Daisy’s brother, Oscar Miller, joined the team last year after the pandemic brought him back home to Adelaide. He’d previously been working around Europe, including at wine bar Vino Teca in London and winery Bruno Rocca in Italy. He’ll be overhauling the wine list and says to expect a “broad brush” that caters to every palate.
“I think a lot of people’s expectation [with Thai food] is you just order Singha,” says Oscar. “It’s the amount of effort, consideration, balance and time that goes into the food going into the list. I don’t want to pour something that’s going to make the food taste bitter or too sweet when I know the care and attention that’s been put into it.”
“I’ve entrusted him with my third child, the restaurant,” says Daisy. She recently left day-to-day operations of Soi 38 to take a job as a political adviser in local government.
With Oscar and Kannika, the Soi 38 partnership has expanded to six (including Jacqui Lim and Alex Reade, who came on board as business partners four years ago). Intarakhamhaeng largely credits Lim and Reade with giving him the support and encouragement to grow the brand.
“I wasn’t sure I could do this food in Adelaide before now,” says Intarakhamhaeng. “[But] I am lucky to have Jacqui and Alex as business partners – their love of food and willingness to try new things and let me experiment and explore and introduce the more wild sorts of flavours to our menu has helped me to evolve. Also … without the support I have from our guests I could never have pushed my cooking so far. And suppliers too, so many relationships I have with suppliers willing to grow things for me and find things for me.
“Being so far away from my home for so long now – the longest I’ve been away from my mum’s cooking with the borders closed – this new era means that I can connect with my culture and my country and I can connect my kids with their background through food, which is so important in Thai culture,” he continues. “Australians travel to Thailand so often and are also very connected to Thai people, so I hope the new era will help people feel connected to my home.”
Soi 38 will reopen at 74 Pirie Street in mid-May. Fire X Soi 38 will open later that month.
