Thai Again, a homestyle Thai restaurant in Nelly Bay, Magnetic Island, Queensland, Australia

Located in Nelly Bay on Queensland’s Magnetic Island (Townsville) in an unimpressive looking building adjacent to a grocery store is a little family owned Thai restaurant called “Thai Again” … which has REALLY good food, if questionable service.  The woman who runs the place is from Northern Thailand, and the food she cooks is ‘home-style’ Thai like you’d find at restaurants in small towns in Thailand, and is quite tasty — albeit with the heat modified to local tastes.

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Photo above is of their menu, to give you an idea

There’s outdoor seating (which is what we opted for) in a fairly beautiful jungle like setting, as well as a limited amount of indoor air-conditioned. That said, the interior of the place is pretty drab and unimpressive — a bit like a diner really, so if the humidity doesn’t bother you (and you’ve remembered to put on something to discourage the mosquitos… I strongly suggest sitting outdoors.

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My Tom Yom soup,

That said, the waitresses seem to take an “out of sight out of mind” attitude, and one of them got snippy with me if I got tired of waiting and actually went in to remind her she had customers outside …. and this was an evening when we had all the time in the world and were in no rush at all and having a nice conversation, but it was STILL taking way too long to get any attention.

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I ordered the Tom Yom soup $19.90 AUD/$21.48 (remember in Australia you don’t add tax or tip) — which seemed a bit expensive but it turned out to be a ‘to be shared’ portion that was loaded with four HUGE shrimps, big slices of squid, and a full fillet of some sort of white fish… so easily a meal in itself. Unlike the Tom Yum in Thailand, which of the sort of hot that it creeps up on you and by the third spoonful your ears will turn red … this stuff was more flavorful than hot, but she puts in great big slabs of fresh red pepper (HOT) which you can nibble on if you’re so inclined — I pulled them out immediately.

[HEH, so I put in the amount about an hour ago, and it was 21 USD, which told me the US dollar had suddenly weakened against the Aussie one by a bit … and now an hour later it is saying $14 USD — ah the joys of international currency. Trump, bless his soul, is making the markets go hay wire]

I also ordered the Satay Chicken, which is coated in a sort of curry, and served with peanut sauce for $13.90 AUD, which was also very good.

My travel partner is a vegetarian. On a back page they had TWO vegan options listed, that both had MEAT in them… one had duck and I forget what the 2nd was. He was more than a bit miffed… however when the waitress came he said, “Can I have a green curry that made vegetarian, so like with Tofu?” and she said no problem. So I guess the trick in this case is to just say that… He, by the way, was VERY happy with his dish. Being Australian he’s gone to Thailand often, and said this was just like what you’d expect in small towns up at the north end of it.

That said, the restaurant is BYOB, only open for dinner, and it is STRONGLY suggested that you reserve in advance. The reality is that there are not many restaurants on Magnetic Island, so calling in advance is almost always a good idea, especially for dinner.  ALSO, and I found this true for EVERY restaurant we at while on the island, be prepared for the kitchens to be SLOW… and this place is no exception. I strongly suggest giving kids and sugar sensitive adults a snack before going out to dinner on this island.

 

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