Pawpaw Cafe is a serene space which invites diners to linger and enjoy the superb menu. Both Western and Asian cuisine feature on the breakfast and lunch menu, but at night, the emphasis is on Thai. Their signature Massaman curry is a feast of rich flavours garnered from slow cooked beef cheek, and redolent with the subtle flavours of Thai spices. For veggie lovers, the Yum eggplant is very aptly named, and a must try.
Catering for up to 60 people, Pawpaw is open seven days a week for breakfast and lunch, and from Wednesday to Sunday for dinner. Pawpaw Cafe has hosted birthdays and bridal showers, baby showers and hens’ parties.
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Particularly popular at Pawpaw are the vegan and gluten free High Teas. These special occasions can be held in any of their three separate dining areas, all of which offer the same understated elegance of timber floors and wide open windows, oversize wall murals, and service staff who are friendly, knowledgeable and unobtrusive.
While dining at Pawpaw is a pleasure all in itself, if you can’t get there, they deliver using Uber and Menu Log – a meal at Pawpaw couldn’t be easier.
The story so far
“My dad was an engineer based in Bangkok and that’s how we first fell in love with Thai food,” explains Giorgina Venzin, whose father first opened the award-winning Mons Ban Sabai Thai in Camp Hill, which the family still runs under the Venzin Group. “We travel a lot to Thailand and surrounding countries such as Indonesia, and our passionate love for the food of Southeast Asia is one of the biggest reasons – it\’s light, fresh, often healthy and quick to prepare.” The family\’s star in the kitchen is Thai-born Executive Chef, Bowyo, who ensures the menu is as spectacular in style as it is in flavour. If you\’re a keen cook, you can take the Pawpaw experience home with this recipe of one of their signature dishes – the sweet and sour Green Wagyu Curry with Lychee and Green Apple. They sell the curry paste in the restaurant too to make a delicious Thai curry even easier to prepare!
Wagyu Green Curry with Lychee and Green Apple
Prep time: 10 mins
Cook time: 10 mins
Serves 2-4
Ingredients:
200g wagyu steak, grilled and sliced, medium cooked
200g coconut cream
1/2tbs green curry paste
1tbs vegetable oil
pinch of cumin powder
pinch of coriander powder
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
2tbs fish sauce (to taste)
25g palm sugar (to taste)
10 whole lychee
1/2 whole green apple
(cut into wedges)
10 leaves Thai basil
Method:
1. Heat vegetable oil in the saucepan, then add green curry paste. Gently cook curry paste over low heat for one minute, then add cumin powder, coriander powder and turmeric powder. Keep stirring for two
minutes then add coconut cream, palm sugar, fish sauce and turn up the heat to boil.
2. Once the curry sauce has come to a boil, turn the heat down to simmer.
3. Add cooked wagyu, apple, lychee and Thai basil and cook for 30 seconds. It’s important not to overcook on this step as you want to keep the meat tender and the apple crunchy.
4. Serve!
