Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name, and they’re always glad you came.
For anyone lucky enough to have lived through the MTV-fuelled, neon-lit 1980s, you’ll remember those words welcomed us each week into the world of Sam, Carla, Norm, Cliff and Woody as they navigated life from a bar stool at Cheers in downtown Boston.
It was comfortable, familiar and without a hint of pretension (unless you count Frasier’s Lilith).
Finding the restaurant equivalent — where walking through the door and being swept up in the sound of laughter and playful banter makes you feel all warm and fuzzy — is a tall order.
But we may have just found it in the most unlikely of places.
Larry’s Unique Thai, on the edge of a shopping centre in Woodvale, is not for the white linen and smooth jazz set. This is lively, animated and cosy suburban Perth dining at its best. The place was heaving, with just one lonely table in the middle of the floor for us. Glad we booked.
The decor is of a time long forgotten by your fancier, cool-AF Asian-inspired wannabes — the rich brown wood wall panels and well-worn red carpet is pared perfectly with the deep maroon traditional tablecloths that are protected by the thickest plastic sheeting known to man. And for good reason (more on that later).
Other traditional touches make it a space that screams “welcome to our home”.
When it comes to food, like most Asian restaurants, a study of the menu requires the skill of a speed reader. There’s no shortage of options spread across multiple pages offering the usual range of entree, soups, myriad assorted chicken, beef, pork and lamb curries, seafood, noodles and vegetarian. You’re spoilt for choice.
Unperturbed by the abundance, our family agreed to apply our usual stress test of any new restaurant promising to offer an authentic experience. It’s akin to ordering lasagne or spaghetti bolognaise at an Italian restaurant to check to see if it’s just like Nonna makes. If the kitchen can get those staples right, you’ll be pretty safe wandering off piste into uncharted culinary territory the next time you visit.
For Larry’s, we settled on the spring rolls and curry puffs (both $10.90) and satay chicken ($11.90) to start, followed by honey chicken ($25.90), massaman beef curry ($25.90), chicken pad Thai ($22.90) and chilli and lime pawpaw salad ($22.90).
Alcoholic drinks are BYO so we opened the cool bag and cranked open a bottle of our favourite Margaret River riesling.
The food starts to arrive and it’s not long before almost every inch of the table is covered in the most gorgeous-smelling array of food. You know, that feeling you get when a quick whiff fills the soul and lifts the spirit.
The starters are perfectly reliable without being anything spectacular, but that moreish chicken satay sauce is a particular standout.
The honey chicken is no sticky congealed mess that we’ve found is often the case at similar restaurants. It’s delicate, lightly battered and not overly sweet. The fight over the pad Thai and super, super fresh pawpaw salad makes us glad we didn’t ruin the tablecloth as noodles and the occasional splash of Thai dressing hit the deck as we go back for seconds (OK, and thirds).
The star of the show is the massaman beef curry. Mellow, aromatic and big chunks of tender beef that melt in the mouth.
Enter another star. Larry. The man himself appears. He’s remarkably fresh-faced after a few hours slaving away in the kitchen.
Wine glass in hand, he wanders from table to table and greets everyone like an old friend. He knows their name, he asks about absent friends and family. Why aren’t they here, how have they been?
I try shifting in my chair to get a better look at his ears. Surely he must be wearing a tiny earpiece that’s being fed a dossier on every diner by a diligent staff member hidden in some back storeroom with access to super high speed internet. Nothing.
Incredibly, this is all from memory. Larry is a name-recall savant. You’re really sitting in his home, and he couldn’t be happier you came.
What strikes you most is that, even with the sheer number of people in the room, he knows almost everyone. Returning regulars and creatures of habit who love the familiar and comfortable.
And if you’re unlucky enough not to have met him before, you soon will. Congratulations, you’ve just made a friend for life.
That’s definitely worth three cheers.
The verdict: 16/20
Family-friendly dining and authentic flavours that clearly brings everyone back again and again.
Larry’s Unique Thai
Woodvale Boulevard Shopping Centre, 1/1 Trappers Dr, Woodvale
OPEN: Tuesday to Sunday, 5pm-9pm
CONTACT: 9309 5021
BOOKINGS: Yes
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