Thai Tide

Thai Tide is one of the few Thai restaurants that doesn't use 'Thai' as a direct pun, and for that we're very thankful. Merica Charungvat has been serving up no-nonsense Thai food on Bourke Street in the CBD for well over a decade. Well, until recently. These days, delicious nonsense is kind of the point.

See, Thai Tide started with 'Aussie-style' comfort Thai, then flame-licked street food, then chilli crab, and now they've morphed again into one of the city's most boundary-pushing Thai restaurants. Not a pad thai in sight.

Instead, step into the neon-lit dining room, designed by the renowned Swei Interiors, and you'll find dill-spiked soup with sticky rice and ant larvae, steamed tapioca dumplings, stuffed with mince pork, battered whitebait coated in cumin and fried garlic, and finger-lickin' pork lard chips (trust us).

Thai Tide's menu literally has an "exploration" section. Diners are instructed to leave their green curry expectations hanging on a hook by the front door. You come here to be challenged, to have fun, and to enjoy incredible regional Thai food.

Images: Parker Blain