Perth Voice Interactive

THE world has gone mad – Trump elected, Musk in the White House, and now hundreds of people queuing in Joondalup to meet Rick Ardon and Susannah Carr. 

To be fair, they are the world’s longest-serving TV news anchor duo and were celebrating being on the air together for 40 years.

As part of the meet-and-greet, you got a commemorative medallion and a free lobotomy.

To get over all this madness, I needed some comfort food, so I decided to visit Tao Cafe in Myaree.

The Asian eatery is a jack of all trades – offering Japanese, Thai and Vietnamese cuisine.

Normally I steer clear of these places and target restaurants that do one thing very well.

But I’d heard good reports about Tao from locals, so I decided to give it a whirl.

Each section – Japanese, Thai and Vietnamese – had about 15-20 classic dishes with everything from Pho Tai soup and lemongrass chicken to mixed tempura and bun xao.

There was also sushi, entrees, a kids menu and desserts, including cheesecake and merengue.

A lot of bases were covered and if you had a picky family who like different Asian dishes, it’s a good option.

First off, the portion sizes are really big – my two young kids shared a chicken pad Thai ($24) and they didn’t finish it, and my daughter had just been to her modern dance class, where she jumps around like Leroy from Fame on speed.

Old pot-bellied dad was happy to polish off the excess and I can report it was a very enjoyable pad Thai. 

There was lots of slices of tender chook, a nice scattering of crushed peanuts and plenty of soft, flavoursome noodles.

Interestingly, there was quite a strong tomato flavour to the sauce.

I liked it, as sometimes pad Thai can be blander than a game show host.

Across the table my wife “Special K” was tucking into her Thai green curry ($25) and jasmine rice ($4).

I was jealous – the sweet-spicy aroma was wafting across the table and my mouth was starting to water.

“Some Thai green curries skimp on the veg or have virtually none at all, but there’s a nice helping of red capsicum and green beans in this,” she noted.

“The fragrant sauce is thick and crammed with flavour, and has just the right level of heat.

“It’s very tasty and there’s lots of it. My only gripe – the chicken is slightly over; it could be more tender.”

I brought up the rear with the Thai grilled beef salad ($25).

Tender slices of lean beef were perched on a colourful medley of tomato, cucumber, shredded carrot and leafy greens.

The dressing – made from lemon, juice, fish sauce and palm sugar – had a nice sweet-sour tang and wasn’t too overpowering.

It was a very enjoyable salad with the fresh herbs and chilli keeping my palate on its toes.

Situated just past Bunnings on the Leach Highway, Tao Cafe isn’t exactly on the Champs-Élysées, but if you’re shopping in the area, give it a go.

Like me, you might be pleasantly surprised at the quality and quantity of the food.

Right, I’m off to watch the news headlines…

Tao Cafe Myaree
10/1-7 Marshall Rd, Myaree
taocafe.com.au

by STEPHEN POLLOCK