Chopsticks in Chinatown Part III: Lucky Thai Sweets, Haymarket

Lucky Thai Sweets and Video.

Remember that name.

For it promises a hidden plethora of sweet nothings, exquisite in shape and size, bountiful in type, and lovingly infused or immersed with a tropical sarong of coconut.

Saffron, Pinkcocoa, Shin Chan and I were in the midst of our Chinatown Gastro-Journey. We'd breakfasted on yumcha, we'd done some dim sum (the take-home kind) and now it was time to worship at the temple of Thai Sugar-High.

Buoyed by a couple of dreamy posts by Bowb and Saffron, I'd only made the trek to Lucky Thai myself a few weeks before. And boy, is it a hidden treasure!

The video shop itself is clean but plain...


The entrance has potential as you head inside...


then BAM! Be still my overactive pancreas!


Yes, that's a whole aisle of goodness peoples...


There's a whole shelf of banana chip variants and taro morsels (crispy balls? don't mind if I do...)


An open fridge of student dinners for-one...


Intriguing looking delicacies (these are labelled "bean cake/saltty egg" but don't look like either!)...


And yes, of course there are videos too...


We have cameras out within seconds as we zoom and snap away furiously in between ooh-ing and ahh-ing over all kinds of palm sugar treats.

I stand at the counter for what seems like an eternity, as I slowly narrow down my dessert of choice. Eventually I settle for a small container of black sticky rice with steamed custard...


Black sticky rice with steamed custard $2.50

The rice is quite firm and chewy, like most black sticky rice desserts, and subtle with the flavour of coconut milk. The highlight is definitely the custard, which is coconutty, eggy and sweet.

On a previous visit I'd come away with a happy trio of yellow...


Assorted Thai sweets, $4.50

The label on this box was a descriptive "sugar, egg, coconut milk" so I still don't know what these are called. I found the little syrup-soaked teardrop dumplings seemed to taste of rosewater, which, with its combination of soapy texture confused my tastebuds somewhat.

The little flowers were round flat puddings squished into a pretty flower shape and quite cakey in texture. Again these seemed to have been soaked in a sweet syrup.

My favourite was the, er, string. Soft threads of steamed pudding, soaked in--yes! syrup!-- but with a pleasant texture and addictive nibbling qualities.

On my Chopsticks in Chinatown visit, I also couldn't resist a jar of the rolled banana chips. The pretty scroll, the sheen of thin toffee and the healthy sprinkling of toasted sesame seeds had my name written all over it...


Banana roll with sesame $3.00

These were a huge hit. Crispy, bite-sized, and with an addictive crunch of thin toffee. There was a little aftertaste of palm oil, but these disappeared faster than you could say "would you..."



Lucky Thai Sweets and Video
Shop 645, 40-45 Campbell St Haymarket, Sydney
Tel: 02 9212 4842

Chopsticks in Chinatown to-be-continued shortly. Next stop: Thai Kee Supermarket

More mouthfuls from our Chinatown banquet:
Grab Your Fork
Chopsticks in Chinatown Part I: Dragonstar, Haymarket
Chopsticks in Chinatown Part II: Dim sum fun
Chopsticks in Chinatown, Part IV: Thai Kee Supermarket, Haymarket
Chopsticks in Chinatown sweet conclusion: Emperors Garden and Passionflower, Haymarket

Saffron from The Food Palate
Not Just Yum Cha: Part I
Not Just Yum Cha: Part II
Not Just Yum Cha: Part III