Best in Canberra - Thai food

Canberra foodies (back row): Thip (Owner of Thip’s Thai), Michele Walton (Food and Travel Secrets), Elias Hallaj (CBR Foodie), (front row): Charinya Ruecha (Charinya’s Kitchen) and Elissa Steel (Five Beans Food) at Thip’s Thai in Belconnen.

I recently caught up with some fellow Canberra foodies (Food and Travel Secrets, Five Beans Food, and Charinya’s Kitchen) for a cheap and delicious dinner at Thip’s Thai in Belconnen. You can drive or walk past this hidden Canberra gem without even realising it exists. It’s upstairs in the Canberra Churches Centre on Benjamin Way (opposite the ABS building). Thip’s Thai is one of those classic Canberra suburban Asian restaurants that survive on good affordable fresh food without any frills. The decor is not flashy, but the food is divine, particularly the pad Thai with prawns (pictured below). You have to pay in cash but the prices are very affordable and you will certainly come back for more.

The standout must-try delicious dish at Thip’s Thai is pad Thai with prawns!

But Thip’s is no secret to hundreds of regular customers who live and work in Belconnen. It’s easy to understand why – Thip is adored by her regular customers for consistently serving up wholesome, affordable and authentic Thai dishes that remind people of the best street food and home cooked food in Thailand. How do I know this? Well, I had the pleasure of enjoying the food at Thip’s in the company of Canberra’s most famous Thai food blogger – Charinya, of Charinya’s Kitchen.

Now, unless you’re an avid foodie it’s quite possible you haven’t heard of Canberra’s most famous food blogger. But if you love Thai cuisine you would probably already be one of Charinya’s 183,000 Instagram followers. That’s not a typo. 183,000. Charinya is Canberra’s most world-famous food blogger. Not bad for a public servant whose video production team consists of 2 iPhones, a Kmart selfie stick and a few bulldog clips (and a very supportive husband who loves Thai food, obviously). So just before I return to the main topic of Canberra’s best Thai restaurant, here’s just one of HUNDREDS of inspiring recipe videos on Charinya’s Instagram page: Charinya’s roasted pork belly rice paper rolls!

Roasted pork belly rice paper rolls. I roasted the pork belly using an air fryer then wrapped it with rice paper and included salad and noodles. Served with hoisin sauce diluted with warm water,added crushed peanuts and crushed chilli. #airfryerbyck _______________________ ??????????????? ???????????????????????? ???????????????????????????????? ???????????? ????????????????????????????????????? ????????????????????? ??????????????? ?????????? __________________________ #springrolls #freshspringrolls #pork #porkbelly #crispyporkbelly #porkcrackling #airfryer #homecook #homecookings #cookingvideo #cookwithcharinya #meal #mealforameal #foodies #asiancooking #asianfood #foodporn

A post shared by Charinya's Kitchen (@charinyas_kitchen) on Nov 12, 2017 at 3:11am PST

Back to the topic at hand, Charinya recommends Thip’s Thai and Morks as two fine examples of Thai restaurants in Canberra. The last time The RiotACT asked its readers for suggestions of other top Thai eateries, apart from Morks and Thip’s Thai, the list included Thai Herb in Harrison and Soi-8 Thai in Griffith.

BEST Tom Yum chicken I've had in a long time. Highly Recommend Zen Yai Thai London Circuit #Canberra #humanbrochure pic.twitter.com/YicxeQJbL1

— CBR foodie (@CBRFoodie) May 26, 2014

We do have a lot of really good Thai restaurants in Canberra, but I think Thip’s is hard to beat for value and taste. Don’t just take my word for it – our resident Thai food expert Charinya agrees, as well as food bloggers like Michele from Food and Travel Secrets.

What a wonderful little known Canberra gem! Thip’s Thai is hidden away in the Belconnen Churches Centre across the walkway from the Westfield car park. What a pleasure to meet the gorgeous Thipp and try the Thai Style Crispy Fried Chicken $15.50 BBQ Grilled Pork $16.50 ? Thai Style Chilli Paste Pork $15.50? Prawn Pad Thai $16 Rice $2.50 pp What a wonderful little known Canberra gem! Thip’s Thai is hidden away in the Belconnen Churches Centre across the walkway from the Westfield car park. What a pleasure to meet the gorgeous Thipp and try the Thai Style Crispy Fried Chicken $15.50 BBQ Grilled Pork $16.50 ? Thai Style Chilli Paste Pork $15.50? Prawn Pad Thai $16 Rice $2.50 pp @elissa_fivebeansfood @charinyas_kitchen

A post shared by Food and Travel Secrets (@foodandtravelsecrets) on Oct 19, 2017 at 10:18pm PDT

Where is your favourite Thai food in Canberra? We’ve listed a few of the better-known ones in the poll below, but feel free to suggest more in the comments section below and on our facebook page.

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You can spend a week trying all the delicious specials on the colourful Thip’s Thai menu and not get bored!

Elias Hallaj (aka CBRfoodie) is a part-time food blogger and full-time political staffer who has joined RiotACT as a regular contributor. All his opinions about Thai food are his own, except where he has borrowed them from Facebook, Instagram, Google, and Twitter. If you have any tips or feedback or advice about Thai cuisine, or other exciting things to eat around Canberra you can add a comment below or find him most nights on Twitter @CBRfoodie.