Cafe 82

We travelled to Café 82 for lunch on Sunday, Entertainment Book voucher at the ready. On the way I read the previous reviews, we were not disappointed. This is a bit of a gem, looks like it was an ordinary shop in a past life. The feel was fresh, contemporary and a bit beachy without being cliché.
The food was amazing! Fresh light, tasty, decidedly Thai, but lighter, fresher with fantastic presentation. Cold rolls superb, crisp pork belly diced with bok Choy, minced chicken Ko pal with green beans… delish.

This is on the way to the Grange beach on Grange Road. I usually walk to the beach and lately I have been noticing this place buzzing in the evenings. Previous to this it was just an ordinary lunch time café serving pretty poor burgers. So for the place to be opened at night and with so many people dining, I was curious to check it out. On my way back from work and shopping just went in. They are now serving breakfast and lunch with a Thai influence and then dinner all Thai. June the owner was very friendly and I sat down to have a trial lunch, something light i thought. So ordered the beef on pitta bread. O my that was sooo delish. It was a open pita bread and a fresh salad and topped with this beef that just was so tender and full of flavour. It was really something else, But more than anything I loved the energy and friendliness of June. So dragged my husband out there for dinner. He is not a fan of Thai food, as he does not like the sweetness of some dishes. I think most times the failure of Thai Restaurants are that they try to make it for the Australian pallet and style. They try to please everyone by making it more like Chinese food and ends up being rather ordinary. So I didnt tell him what they served and we got there at 8.45 as we had more shopping to do, They normally close their kitchen by 9.00 and close the restaurant by 9.30. Well they didnt mind all that. We left at 10.30 and June just chatted with us till we finished our wine and the amazing Coconut Ice cream. Sauces in each dish is different to the other. But each one with explosive flavours. My hubby who is usually not a Thai fan was converted. Their dumplings are to die for. The sausages and Ice cream are made by June’s mum. I need to meet her to give her a kiss, she has turned just humble food into something amazing.

A new restaurant on the local Grange scene. This one is shaping up to be a favourite amongst the locals. A Thai restaurant at its core one of the smartest things the owners have done is to put in a decent coffee machine and barista during the day to fill the need for good coffee in the area.
Come night time and the smells of the authentic Thai cooking fill the neighbourhood. Grab a takeaway or grab some friends and eat in. The recent addition of a liquor licence means this place has the whole package. Come summertime its sure to be the new Grange hit.