A Wok On The Wild Side

Brody Sweeney 31MAY19

f there’s one thing that every smart restaurateur will tell you, hey, you should always – always – be on the sunny side of the street.

That’s especially true for Greystones’ main thoroughfare, where, on a good summer’s day, that sun can shine bright from coffee to cognac.

And that means, from Mooch and The Happy Pear down to Buoys Kitchen and Café Gourmet, you’ll get shiny, happy, solar-powered people basking in that all-day glow as they let the treats, the sweets and the good times roll.

That sun can touches your very soul. Just ask Tommaso.

For Brody Sweeney, taking a look around the 21st Camile Thai this afternoon as it prepares for its late June opening, that sun is shining through every window. And onto that fine terrace out front, where people will be able to eat, drink and be merry as Greystones’ street life cruises by.

The place is already looking great, despite the fact that the furniture has yet to arrive, and the fittings haven’t all yet been fitted. You can sense that Camile Thai is going to be a good fit for this foodie haven of ours. And they might just have the sweetest spot in town too, the off-menu angle of this former Mount View home resulting in a triangular piazza that opens up like a flower, providing a welcome oasis away from the parallel lines of Church Road. 

The fact that Camile Thai arrives with a growing and glowing reputation has only whetted Greystonians’ appetite further. Started by Sweeney in 2011 (and expanding with franchise partners such as Galway hurler Joe Canning), Camile Thai has become one of Ireland’s most acclaimed eateries in recent years, thanks to a boom in the takeaway market. There are branches all across Ireland, and the UK, and now, Greystones is set to become one of Camile Thai’s trailblazing flagship operations, with, for the first time, a large restaurant upstairs alongside the traditional takeaway and casual dining downstairs. Even the look and colour scheme is new, thanks to Ashford architect Kim Dreyer.

Having lived through the meteoric rise and humbling crash in 2008 of his previous franchise creation, O’Brien Sandwiches, Brody Sweeney is no doubt a little wiser and weathered this time out, but his enthusiasm and passion for Camile Thai is obvious. An enthusiasm and passion helped, no doubt, by that ever-growing, ever-glowing – and award-winning – reputation.

As the finishing touches for that June opening move up a gear, we managed to grab ten minutes with the bould Brody this afternoon to talk good food, the Happy Pear effect, and how our eating habits have changed, thanks to the blinking screen you’re staring into…

You can find out more about Camile Thai here. Now, go take a tour of this fine building’s former life here.