Sweet Thai Sauce product reviews

I have to state in advance that I am a chili nut and so to taste a chili sauce where I cannot taste any chilli is not unusual for me.

The sauce is a rich tomato based sauce with good viscosity, body and mouthfeel and yet for me I was unable to taste any heat from the chilies. I picked up the rich tomato base, coupled with the lime tang of the Keffir lime; but there was a slight bitter afternote on the palate. The rich sweetness to the tomato came in early, with a detectable lime note mid way, but I felt the lingering bitterness over-shadowed.

I'm sad to say out of all of the excellent products in the range I have tried so far this is the least favourite; but please do not let my review stop you from trying Q-garden products.

I regret to say that after much testing, this one was not to my taste. I can't explain why, because it has all the right ingredients to be a very Thai sauce, but I think it might have a lot to do with the high tomato content. As a spicy sauce it's pretty good, but it just didn't taste "Thai-right" to me.

All in all, I think if you are after a Thai'ish taste but don't know, or care, about authentic Thai food, then this will be a big hit for you. But for me, if I am going to eat Thai, I want it to really BE Thai in all ways, and this wasn't quite "it".

Never having been a great fan of Thai food - usually because I find the sauces quite hot and watery compared to more European dishes - I was a little hesitant to get stuck into this one. I just always seemed to find a sauce that "...would be more appropriate..." or "...be more compatible..." - In the end I had to bite the bullet and dive in, or this was going to be a lost cause. I am so glad I did.

Completely against expectations, this sauce is thicker than a traditional Thai sauce would be. It still has many tones that are found in a Thai meal - the Kafir Lime, a hint of lemongrass, the sharp chilli flavour as opposed to a 'hot, thick' chilli flavour found in more Mexican dishes and sauces... but it also had a definite thick tomato base that really set it off well for the Kiwi palate I think.

Using this on BBQ'd sausages and burger patties worked out a treat! I basted the patties as I grilled them, causing the sauce to thicken to almost a glaze... this meant there was no need for the traditional Kiwi BBQ condiment - tomato sauce. The flavour it added was wonderful, not too hot but with enough bite to let you know it was there and not planning to hide away at all.

I also found this went really well in a Savoury Mince dish, adding a really nice lift that meant I could get all the flavour I needed without having to resort to either a packet mix, or time-consuming herb gathering and preparation. A hefty dollop of this, 750g of browned mince, a diced onion, a can of chopped tomatoes, and a bit of pepper and salt to taste. A healthy double-handful of fresh, diced veges (or packet frozen if you are short of time) and simmer for 15 minutes or until most of the liquid has gone. Served on steamed rice as lunch, or on toast and topped with a poached egg for breakfast, and this is a meal you will want to do again!

Overall, a very pleasant surprise, well worth exploring for anyone who respects a little heat in their food but doesn't want to rename their tongue "blisterpad".

I cracked open the Sweet Thai sauce to try with our chicken nuggets the other night. Unlike the Sweet Pepper sauce, this sauce was much, much thicker. I gave the bottle a really good shake, and then another really good shake, but could only manage approx 1 teaspoon full out of the bottle at a time. Mind you when you taste it, you realise you don't necessarily need a lot.

I tried this straight and found that this sauce is really nice. It tastes of rich almost sun-dried tomato and does have a hot spicy hit to it, which leaves you with a not unpleasant heat in your mouth. The hit is from the chilli and other good spicy ingredients in there.

I really enjoyed this sauce, but the rest of the family were not as interested. The promise of heat doesn't excite them. So unadventurous! This would be delicious with corn fritters and bacon. I could easily see this a hit at our next BBQ as well, where our more open-minded friends are bound to enjoy this yummy sauce.