Cheng Kitchen

Thailand has four distinct cuisines, but pretty much everything we get in Sydney is from the Thai capital and centre. Cheng Kitchen is one of few exceptions. Its specialty is food from Thailand's north, not to be confused with Isaan cuisine from the north-east.

One of the region's specialties is khantoke, a platter with a thali-like arrangement of chilli relish, fried or grilled meat, curry and sometimes noodles or stir fries traditionally eaten by hand with sticky rice, and fresh herbs and vegetables. Cheng Kitchen’s version has larb (mince) with liver, a pork-belly curry with ginger and peanuts, Thai-style pork crackling, fermented chilli paste and sweet glass noodles.

Khantoke is something to take on if you're with a group. If you're dining solo or in a pair, a northern Thai noodle soup such as curried khao soi or fermented khanom jeen noodles will be more manageable.

Astute Thai food seekers will recognise those from Rim Tanon, the previous restaurant at this site. Owner Thidarat Ng was the proprietor there too, but decided to close and reopen with a more Northern focus, bringing in the khantoke and renovating the restaurant to look more like a northern Thai abode.