Thai Riffic Newtown

My friend took me here one night when I decided to venture down to Newtown. This place was extremely trendy and buzzing with people. All kinds which is a great first impression. I was surprised to find out this was a byob and my friend had brought a bottle of wine. Since i have been here i have never been to a restaurant that was BYOB! very unique. We decided to order no apps and just mains. I went with the Cashew Chicken. This is usually my go to dish when i go for Thai. I was fortunate to experience an outstanding dish! It was full of flavour, cooked to perfection and just the right amount to leave you not still hungry for more or busting in your pants.
The service i remember being a bit slow. When ordering i did ask for water and it took a while. Maybe this was because it was busy or maybe it was because they really just allowed us to take more time when ordering. I also remembered the kitchen to be exposed at the back which was nice to be able to see what was going on behind the scenes.
All in all great place for a night out on the town!

Both food and service was good, offers older wines in glasses so it’s a bonus to try many ;)
No Ac so some hot nice wasn’t easy

This is one of my favourite restaurants in Newtown for lunch, not so much because of the food quality (which is quite good but there a lot of Thai restaurants in Newtown that are comparable), but the environment is nice and relaxed, there is always a good seat available, and the staff are always very friendly and happy to see you.
If I’m by myself and just want something quick before rushing off to an appintment, I’ll go for the $ 5 lunch, simple but delicious meals, the ‘Worker noodle’ and ‘shear chicken soup’ (savoury soup with rice soaking in the bottom and generous chicken pieces) are both surprisingly good, personally I think they’re better than pad-​thai, yellow curry etc.
Portion sizes are quite good, it just looks like a smaller amount because they use huge oversized plates.

It’s alright. Honestly, this place was ordinary. specifically in Newtown where is some amazing Thai. If this was somewhere else I might have given it more stars, but because there are amazing Thai all around it, in comparison it’s average. Saying that the lunch specials were extremely cheap.

I was craving for some thai food and i didn’t want to get disappointed. So i looked for a Thai restaurant in Newtown with the best review and ended up at Thai Riffic.
Yes, I’d give a five star to the high end environment and service and also the cute looking waitresses. But the food was just ok for me.
I ordered mushroom tom yam that came in coconut shell with white rice. That caused the portion served to be extremely small. I couldn’t even finish my steamed white rice because my tom yam finished waaayy too early. The tom yam was a little undertaste.
My friend ordered soft shell phad thai. Now, you can share this meal! The portion was really generous while the taste was just ok for me. The other two tables next to us also ordered this and we constantly checked their plate if they managed to finish the phad thai! If was a lot.
In conclusion, if you’re looking for a decent place to have a lunch/​dinner date, try this place. It’s proper and also pricey. But if you’re looking to get your tom yam craving fixed, skip this place. Go to Newtown Thai instead! The best tom yam there, handsdown. (Coming from a Malaysian who spent 5 years living with thai roomates)

Here’s a first world problem for you– deciding on a Thai restaurant in Newtown.
Thai Riffic stood out due to its slightly upscale décor and muted colour scheme, in addition to $ 5 menu specials and comfy-​looking seats. Settling in BF and I checked out the lunch menu. Much to my delight, they deemed it their «Bangkok Backstreet Menu» complete with a snapshot of a makeshift restaurant in a Bangkok back alley.
The breakdown:
–The Thai ice tea ($ 5): fab. If you’re a connoisseur, this place does not disappoint.
–Chicken satay: YUM. It came served with lettuce leaves as garnish, a sizable star-​shaped portion of rice, three skewers of definitely-​marinated-​beforehand chicken that were flavourful and juicy, and a large puddle of peanut sauce that was to die for– clearly made from scratch in house.
–BF’s meal ($ 10): One of the Pin-​To on offer: its the Thai version of those little tin tiffin boxes Indians use for lunch. His Pin-​To featured minced chicken cooked with garlic, chilli, basil and green bean, rice topped with a fried egg, and clear soup. The minced chicken dish– wow. Redolent of anise and other spices. Truly delicious. The egg was cooked perfectly as well– runny yolk for all! The portion was small but just right if having a starter.
My meal ($ 8): I chose the «Bangkok Chicken Noodle» dish for $ 8, which was described as chicken with market vegetables and wide rice noodles. Accompanied by a dish of sweet chilli (not really necessary as the dish ended up being quite sweet), it arrived looking like a lighter version of Pad See Ew, crowned with crispy wonton noodles and again, a perfectly cooked fried egg. I happily busted the runny yolk all over the noodles.
The only drawbacks: the «market vegetables» promised in the dish turned out to be bits of lettuce leaf. Not sure how lettuce qualifies as a stir-​fry veggie. No me gusta.
The other bit is the chicken in my dish was your average Asian-​y variety. What is it about every single Asian restaurant serving the exact same, dry, slightly stringy meat in stir-​fried dishes? Is there one Asian shop that has a monopoly? I wouldn’t have marked them down, but their chicken satay was so darn delicious that after having that dish, I really would have preferred tofu than eat substandard meat.
We’re definitely coming back for dinner– Massaman lamb shanks, served with mashed potato? The menu looked different than most other Thai places, which is a breath of fresh air given that I’ve yet to be to a Thai place in Sydney with a menu different to the joint down the street. Maybe that’s because I only go to cheap places. Don’t judge me.
Don’t waste your time pacing up and down King Street, muttering to yourself that you JUST. CANT. DECIDE. between Thai, Thai, and Thai. I’ve made your decision for you.

I’ve been here once a few years ago and then again this weekend.
The thai ice tea here is THAIRIFFIC!!! See what I did there? ;)
Inside the ambience is loud and very exotic, updated, sharp and chic. This is not the cheapest thai restaurant in town. Nope!
We had these little crab entrée thingies, octopus salad and chicken pad thai, it was all good. We felt like we couldn’t find the crab in our little crab entrée thingies, but… you know, details, details. They tasted good.
When choosing between upmarket Thai in Newtown, I think this is definitely a better choice over Thai Pothong down the street. Unless you want to buy knickknacks and souvenirs (Thai Pothong has a gift shop attached). The service was definitely better here, too.

Not the cheapest Thai place in Newtown (and there are plenty of other choices around) if that is your deal breaker, but the taste is amazing.
Good options for those who are interested in cocktails /​mocktails as well.
Service is good (when you can get their attention) as they tend to get quite busy.

This is at the pricier end of Thai restaurants in Newtown, but worth it.
We had a some curry puffs and money bags for entrée. They were both nice, but reasonably standard.
Mains were Massaman Lamb and Sizzling Pepper Steak. The steak was delicious, but the lamb was the real standout. It was served as a lamb shank still on the bone. The meat was falling off the bone tender, and the sauce was great. I get massaman lamb at every Thai place I try, and this was probably the best I’ve had.

Thai Riffic is a brilliant blend of amazing Thai food with an awesome atmosphere. If you want a quiet night out, keep looking though because Thai Riffic is bustling with noisy diners thoroughly enjoying themselves.
The restaurant does all the usuals plus more with a consistent success rate, making for a great night out. It is pricey, however, and I recommend watching how many things you order because it’s just so east to let yourself loose on the mouth watering menu.
There is an Asian-​styles courtyard out back (with heaters) which is nice and there is also an upstairs level indoors.

There are heaps of Thai Restaurants in Newtown, but the difference with Thai Riffic and the rest, Thai Riffic is the standard bearer — and I might high standard it is.
This place has never let us down.
It’s décor and presentation are plush, warming, clean and new looking.
The staff, some with little English, are wonderful always ready to please.
The manager, is wonderful. Always ready for a chat (if you want) and always on the ball. He asks how things were and more then willing to take suggestions, especially on the specials.
The food is presented incredibly well. It looks delicious, and 99.8% tastes delicious.
When in full swing, the place is a little loud, but you are crazy to go with just two or three of you — you need a whole table — so you can try more dishes.
The clientele is the usual Newtown All-​sorts, but who really have respect for the place and make the effort to look good.
Give it a go.

I’m not sure what to think of Thairiffic in Newtown. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed my meal here but at the end of it I got a bit of a surprise. I was told this would be the last meal I’d be having with my guest. (No, no one was dying the other thing!)
It’s lucky I ordered up big because in the end I didn’t pay a cent and I got to try a few things. The duck roll and the prawn fritter was a good starter and the green curry barramundi and the sizzling seafood were really nice too. There was an extensive wine list which I didn’t need to look at as we brought some BYO.
The staff were real friendly, it’s almost like they wanted us out of there. Actually hold on. where they in cahoots with my companion!

I know, I know. Yet another Thai restaurant in Newtown. But I swear, Thai Riffic is a stand-​out one because of its style, service, and substance. It’s a really trendy restaurant with dim lights and low tables. The seats are pretty close together, which definitely increases intimacy. The food at Thai Riffic has more of an emphasis on gastronomy of country’s Northern regions. For example, I highly recommend getting the chicken pandan as a starter. It is marinated chicken that’s roasted in crisp pandan leaves. So good! This means that while you’ll surely find the omnipresent dishes like pad thai, there are others that are a bit more rare. There are also some higher-​end dishes like the one with fresh barramundi. And their pad see ew is sublime. Definitely go here if you’re in the mood for modern and impressive Thai in a trendy setting.
One suggestion: I suggest sitting a bit further away from the kitchen. Since it is open, it can get a bit loud and distracting.