Thirst

Pulled pork has had an exceedingly long moment in the Canberra sun but I doubt anyone's got a dish quite like Thirst's. We're looking at a plate with a collection of different elements: a pile of pulled pork shoulder on one side, a couple of deep-fried rice balls, two little bowls full of sweet chilli and nahm prik, and a luscious fried egg on top of some bright green watercress. "You break it all up and stir it together - or I can do it for you if you'd like," our waiter offers pleasantly.

"Show us how it's done, son," we say. He breaks into the egg yolk with a fork and it spills like gooey sunshine. The same with the crisp fried balls of jasmine rice. Stirs it all together with the pulled pork and drizzles it with pungent nahm prik. This is pulled pork Thai style and it's very good - all that runny yet oily fried egg oozing over the tender, moist shreds of meat, the fluffy soft rice with bits of crisp fried shell, and the funky shrimpy nahm prik binding it all together in a hot, delicious mess.

Sometimes it's interesting to go back to an old haunt. While dozens of cafes and restaurants have sprung up in Braddon and the Kingston Foreshore, there are still plenty of stalwarts trucking along - if only there was enough time to review them all. 

Thirst is now about five years old in its spot in the Melbourne building. The decor is still warm and modern – bright orange banquettes and white tables, and pops of colour in the turquoise, soft red and sea green lanterns hanging from the ceiling.

Another stalwart is the crispy fish salad ($24.90), which is still one of the most flavourful things you'll find on a menu in Canberra. Crunchy squiggles of fried whitebait tossed through a fresh mix of coriander, Thai mint and flecks of chilli, pretty good on its own even before you add the zingy dressing that's sour and hot and sweet at the same time.

The menu is a collection mostly of curries and Thai style salads - a pork belly green curry ($24.90) is suitably creamy and with slabs of perfectly cooked meat lending extra richness to the blend of spices.

Likewise with a grilled beef panang curry ($24.90) which is lighter in style and filled with thin slices of beef and handfuls of kaffir lime leaves for a sour punch.

A green bean salad is refreshing, colourful and cuts through the richness of the curries and topped with a moreish pile of slivered sweet potato fries ($23.90).

For some reason, possibly because we are optimists, we've ordered a massive plate of pork fried rice that's glistening dark from soy sauce and the wok, studded with chunks of pork and shreds of green veg. It's a dish and a half, this one.

Jeff Piper's love of Thai cuisine, combined with his training (Thirst was previously the French fine diner Anise) shows through in the mix of flavours and textures.

There's a bit of bandwagon jumping in the desserts menu in the form of a "popcorn and caramel sundae". Again, this is given a Thai twist with scoops of coconut ice-cream and a puddle of hot palm sugar and caramel syrup in the bottom of the brightly coloured bowl. The popcorn adds some crunch but is a little lost and there are squares of salted caramel that provide better texture. The overall effect is too sweet for my liking - the more standard scoops of mango, coconut and pineapple and ginger sorbets are better balanced and refreshing.