Zen Yai Thai Restaurant, on London Circuit in the City, is a good place for a group to catch up, being very centrally located, near the bus stations and with easy parking on the other side of Northbourne in front of the Supreme Court. (The car park directly across the road fills quickly).

It has a lovely decor and a great round table that seats ten people comfortably and is ideal for including everyone in a group. (Can get pretty noisy though, so it can still be tricky to chat to anyone across the table if the restaurant is busy).

For a mixed group of ten, with a range of appetites, ordering two serves of five mains to share, and rice for all, is perfect.

All these dishes are excellent but possibly the favourites might be:

Gang Ga Ree Gai – Yellow curry chicken with potatoes, pineapples and tomatoes $16.80

Phad Ka Pow – stir-fried roast duck with fresh chilli and basil $18.50 ($16.50 with beef or chicken, but the roast duck is the pick)

Pla Nung Ma Now – Steamed fish fillets with spicy chilli and fresh lemon grass $19.80

Larb – pork mince spicy salad (also available with chicken or beef) $17.50

Keow Warn- Fresh green curry king prawns with vegetables $19.80 (can also have fish instead)

Rice is $2.50 per person (but it’s worth getting the coconut rice for $3.50 which is delicious)

By choosing a range of different dishes, this becomes a complete dining experience and there’s no need (or room) to also order other courses.

The dishes mentioned are all quite spicy, so ask for milder versions if you need them.

Service is gracious, warm and efficient.

Prices are good value and serve sizes are large enough to share between up to six people.

Corkage is also very reasonable at $3 per bottle of wine and $1 per bottle of beer.

It all makes for a great night out for $20- $25 per person.

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