By
Trevor Pepys reviews Sum Yung Guys
The last time Trev visited SYG was in March last year when they were still in Sunshine Beach and we couldn’t converse or even hear ourselves think for the doof doof blaring through speakers seemingly directly above every table.
If it had been just Trev and the missus it wouldn’t have been that much of an issue (heard it all before) but we were with a special friend from Sydney and we wanted to talk, and the alleged music almost ruined a good meal. Trev’s been a bit gun-shy and hearing protective ever since, but on receiving more than a few reports of great meals and much better acoustics at the new Weyba Road location, he decided to chance it when another special but different friend arrived who had heard of the cheeky lads even in far-off Sydney and wanted to try their fare.
Again it was difficult (even with a bit of own namedropping) to get a table but we finally managed to score a late sitting, only to be messaged just as we were pre-loading at home that they could take us an hour early. Points given here in this sittings’-driven era for customer service pre-arrival, since this was the time we had originally requested, meaning Trev could get home in time for most of the Big Bash final.
No one has ever been able to make a go of the site until now, mainly because it had the ambience of an indoor cricket centre, but the SYG lads have changed all of that, making it classy, busy, cool and fun in a Crazy Rich Asians kind of way.
But we were seated in the middle of a noisy room. Again customer awareness came to the rescue, and if you can keep that going in this tough summer, you’re doing well. As soon as we noticed a table on the terrace being vacated, we called our waitress and were moved immediately and obligingly.
In the relative cool and quiet of the terrace facing the street, we ordered a bottle of quaffing wine and surveyed the menu. Now a post-prandial checking of Trev’s wine and sauce spattered Semi-professional Restaurant Reviewer’s Notebook for 2021 revealed that the quaffer happened to be the very same Cantina Tollo Italian Pinot Grigio ordered at SYG last March for $38 and was now $45. But that’s inflation for you, or it would be if there was any, which there wasn’t.
We munched on a shared plate of delicious Mooloolaba Prawn Toast with Gochu mayo ($15) while we made our selection, which after much negotiation was the Duck Pad Grapao, Green Bean, Holy Basil and Fried Duck Egg ($28) off the medium dish list and the King Salmon Curry with Green Tomato, Betel Leaf and Kaffir ($41) off the large, with sides of roti ($7.50) and Wok Tossed Vegetables with Oyster Sauce, Garlic and Chilli ($15).
The best part about the duck was the duck egg on top. Too much green bean, not enough duck, but the flavours were thereabouts.
For Trev, the salmon curry was the star, a succulent and beautifully presented fillet surrounded by rich flavours, although a little too spicy for the taste buds of the ladies. And the lightly spiced vege salad and crispy rotis, delicious.
A shared Lime Syrup Cake and Coconut Sorbet with Pineapple Compote, Gingerbread Crumb and Kaffir Lime ($15) promised quite a bit more than it delivered.
The verdict: Our dinner probably suffered somewhat from the process of democratic selection. Next time – Trev pays, Trev orders. But overall the food was good to very good, the service excellent, the ambience busy but fun.
Sum Yung Guys, 205 Weyba Road, Noosaville. Phone 5342 1391.