I'd go to Zone 2 for you: Me Dee Thai

What is it?
Fish fairy floss! Properly called pla dook fu it’s catfish, shredded à la pulled pork and then deep-fried to make freeform patties that crackle on the tongue. They come with waffle-cut green apples (standing in for out-of-season green mango), crisp slivers of red onion and a piquant dressing.

Where do I get it?
Me Dee Thai, an unassuming little restaurant off a Springvale parking lot. Inside, Thai royals gaze benevolently down from green and white stucco walls. It’s in the heart of Springvale’s Thai district, where video shops sell criminally good pork scratchings as well as too-cute-to-eat sweets like intricate fruits made from mung beans and coconut milk.

What else should I order?
The menu is in Thai and English, while snapshots on the walls help you go beyond the traffic light coloured curries. Try BBQ pork skewers, smoky and succulent in a sweet soy marinade, or a deluxe tom yum, served in a ceramic contraption like a giant oil burner to keep it piping hot.

Any drinks?
Copy the locals and grab a lurid stein full of iced tea, or try an ‘ice blend’: house-made slushies in flavours like Ovaltine or rattle-your-fillings orange.

What’s it like?
This is a Thai place, for Thais. Albeit one where Lady Gaga on the stereo competes with the hiss of frantic woks out the back. With most dishes costing $12 and under, you’ll be smiling that famous Thai smile too.

Shop 1/1-3 St Johns Avenue, Springvale. Mon-Thu 10.30am-8pm; Fri-Sun 10.30am-9pm.