Three of a kind ... mango sticky rice

Sweet treat ... mango sticky rice. 

It's little wonder this Thai dessert has so many fans. Relatively simple to prepare from readily available ingredients, it can accommodate substitute fruits such as durian when the mango season ends. What's more, it's portable and, in Thailand, is often sold by hawkers who pre-steam the rice in bamboo cylinders, where it happily maintains moisture and warmth until being unwrapped. Throwing jasmine flowers or pandanus leaves into the steaming water adds fragrance. Like the earlier courses, it should balance sweetness with salt.

1. Chat Thai
If a stiff harbour breeze on the Manly ferry crossing stimulates the appetite, this place is perfectly situated to do something about it. There's clatter and buzz, with tables squeezed close together, and service is swift. Mango sticky rice ($8) features thick slices of fragrant kensington pride in peak condition and a generous mound of rice that's pleasingly chewy. A scattering of tiny, roasted mung beans adds crunch and a zigzag of coconut cream ties everything together.

2. Red Spoon
There are tables indoors, where the lighting is moody, and outside in the shopping centre courtyard in an area bordered by eateries of various cuisines and fit-outs. Mango sticky rice ($9) doesn't run to fresh fruit here, replacing it with a respectable sorbet. The black sticky rice is warm and chewy, sprinkled with nutty toasted coconut. The toppings are weird with whipped cream, Persian fairy floss and an almond tuile. Although they're not authentic, they are kind of fun.

3. Thai Pothong
Visitors could be forgiven for confusing this eatery with an urban temple, what with the buddhas in gold and stone at every turn. Some are garlanded, others unadorned, many are for sale. The mango sticky rice ($14.90) is a refined affair, the fruit sliced as thin as sashimi and arranged like rose petals. Underneath, there's black sticky rice which is nutty, warm and lightly salted. House-made coconut cream moistens the grain and crunchy mung beans dot the plate. Seems a shame to destroy it, but then again …