Everyone at Chedi Thai would like to thank all our patrons who dined at the restaurant over the busy Christmas and New Year period.The added bonus of the Cricket Test and the Sydney Festival have all bought additional diners to our door.

Last year on November 29th Chedi Restaurant was honored to host a dinner in support of the Hands Across the Water Bike Ride 2011. Ailish Gary and Davina O’Hara, who are two friends from Ireland working in Australia, organized the dinner. The girls were inspired to be part of the long ride from Bangkok to Kao Lak after hearing Peter Baines talk of the children from Bann Tharn Namchai orphanage.

Merry Christmas from Greg, Kai and staff at Chedi Restaurant

Due to our location at the city end of Newtown in close proximity to Sydney University, Chedi Restaurant attracts many foreign tourists to dine. Often when these visitors are paying the bill, I hear them say to each other “in Australia you don’t have to tip”. This I find surprising as in countries like America, a mandatory tip of 15% or more is added to your bill in most restaurants. And if you are in a place like New York and leave a restaurant without tipping, angry waiters will confront you in the street to extract their tip by force.

Newtown is a great place to eat; with the best selection of mid-priced restaurants in Sydney. A leisurely stroll along King Street, from Newtown station to Sydney Road at the peripheral of Sydney University, will take you past cafes and casual dining restaurants to suit most palates.

So what influences a customer’s word of mouth? It all depends of expectations. In Australia there are no Michelin star restaurants; so we must rely on the SMH Good Food Guide awards to know; which restaurants are at the top of the foodie chain. Sydney’s’ 3 hat restaurants are: Bilson’s, est, Marque, Pier, Quay and Tetsuya’s. So it must be all gastronomically downhill from these dizzy heights of gluttony. But then this makes it so much easier for casual dining restaurants like Chedi Thai, with no hats or awards but so many regulars.

I never watch Masterchef Australia; due to being at the restaurant when the show is televised. However, one of our Chefs mentioned an episode on June 3rd which was an Elimination Challenge featuring Thai Green Curry. As all Masterchef episodes can be viewed on-line at the Masterchef Australia 2010 Official site; I went to my computer to view.

One Saturday night in May, Barry & Sara celebrated their wedding party at Chedi Restaurant. But instead of the usual bridal waltz the bride and groom chose to literally get down.

It’s not possible to praise Chedi enough for their combination of great food, great service, and complete confidence in their gluten free options. One of my friends suffers from coeliac disease, and finding a restaurant that serves reliably gluten free food (cross-contamination is almost always a risk) and can provide detailed information on what’s on offer, is always a challenge.

There are many Thai restaurants in Sydney, who proclaim to serve only Authentic Thai Food. But having lived in Thailand for 10 years, I am puzzled to define what actually authentic Thai food is?