Siam1

Melbourne’s Siam1 unites the regional cuisines of northeastern Thailand (Isarn cuisine) with the mountainous north, the central plains, and the tropical south under one roof, aptly named after the original kingdom of Siam. It’s this regional and historical understanding that clearly informs the culinary practices at work in the kitchen. This Thai restaurant and wine bar is a little bit of magic down here in Carnegie – and a whole lot of spice. Good, then, that Siam1 stocks a fantastic range of wines to accompany your meal. Indeed, diners are encouraged to drop into Siam1’s Koornang Road location for a selection of tasting plates matched to a glass or two drawn from their comprehensive and international cellars.

Melbourne’s mad on Thai, Melbourne’s mad on wine that’s fine. It’s a godsend, then, that Siam1 has managed to fuse the two amorous objects at their restaurant and wine bar down Carnegie’s Koornang Road, close to the station and just a block up from the intersection with Neerim Road. And it’s no capricious fusion either. Siam1 stocks over 80 different international wines, carefully chosen to pair perfectly with their small and medium sized Thai dishes. Think of it as Southeast Asian tapas, yet another gastronomic genre that Melbournites love to get stuck into.

As for the food, Siam1 is committed to going DIY where it can, making its own curry pastes, for example, or going local for fresh vegetables, grass-fed beef from Cape Grim, free-range chicken from Bendigo, alongside premium ingredients like the Kurobata Berkshire pork that goes into dishes like their delicious, smoky and refreshing green papaya salad with crispy pork belly. Top picks for a wine bar experience would be the salmon manow, Thai-style sashimi made with Atlantic salmon and a spicy green chilli. garlic and lime dressing. You can go large though, with dishes like the red duck curry or the vegetarian, wok-fried phad pok sure to get you down to Melbourne’s Carnegie for a taste of the new kingdom of Siam.