Nakhon Kitchen and Project Acai

 Thai food is my 3rd most favourite kind of food - but since my chilli tolerance is pathetically low, I can't eat most of the ultra spicy dishes. I've tried Nakhon Kitchen in Bedok once (recommended by colleague KH 5 years ago) and most of their branches are located in really hard to get to out of the way places (i.e. industrial estates). I'm really glad that they have a branch in Holland Village now.

Its a no frills extremely affordable Thai restaurant, which serves really delicious authentic Thai Food. Quite similar to Diandin Leluk at Golden Mile, just much more accessible.

I their papaya salad as they can adjust the chilli level according to your tolerance. The pineapple rice is nice and sweet, and their phad thai tastes really authentic. Their fish cakes and prawn cakes are not bad either. Plus they serve water for free!

Also, the prices here are really pocket friendly (much more affordable than Thai Express) and the taste is really good (lots of Thai staff here). Superb place for lunch when you're in the Holland V area. The queues can be a pain but if you eat lunch early at about 1130 it shouldn't be a problem.

Nakhon Kitchen Holland Village
27A Lorong Liput
Singapore 277738

 One of the highlights of going to Nakhon Kitchen is that I can hop over next door to get myself a bowl of Acai goodness from Project Acai. I'm not sure about the purported health benefits of acai, but since it tastes so good, I just take it as a dessert (plus perhaps half a serving of fruits).

The acai pulp texture is similar to a slushie and it is the same shade of colour as red bean. I really like how refreshing it tastes, especially when paired with lots of fresh fruits.


Project Acai 
Holland Village
27 Lorong Liput
Singapore 277738

http://www.project-acai.com

Porn's Thai Food

I had the pleasure of dining at Porn's Thai Food on a Sunday evening. It wasn't very crowded, so we managed to get a seat straight away. I just got back from Bangkok a few weeks ago, and was craving for some good Thai food.

Many years ago when they opened their first outlet at Liang Seah Street, I went there for lunch. The food was not bad but because it was so out of the way I never went back again (as you can tell, I don't particularly enjoy going to the Bugis area cos I feel very old there). And forgot all about it (since I have a goldfish memory).

I wanted to order Tom Kha Gai, which is a less/non-spicy version of Tom Yum soup with coconut milk (partly because I have extremely low chill tolerance). However, I was unable to find it in the menu. When I asked the server about it, he instantly said that they would be able to cook it for me (at no extra cost), and recommended that I order the seafood version, as I had already ordered their fried garlic chicken. Also, our small 2 seater table didn't have their special offers menu. The server also straight away asked if we had a UOB credit card, as the tom yum soup was 50% off if we did.

Food wise, I think that they are comparable to the standard Thai restaurants.
I really like the Tom Kha Gai soup, which, without the UOB offer, would be about $13++. It was a really big portion (good for 2 pax), came with 4 medium prawns, lots of fish and mushrooms. I could see the galangal and lemongrass, which some Thai stores don't even have (which, to me, means that the spices came out from a packet). There was just the right balance of coconut, so that the soup wasn't too thick and cloying, and neither was it too watery.

The garlic fried chicken was extremely addictive, and the basket of chicken was devoured in a matter of minutes. Light crispy batter, and soft moist morsels of chicken. It was tasty on its own, and I didn't have to dip it in to the sweet chilli sauce accompanying it.

The pineapple rice came with some prawns, baked cashew nuts and raisins. The rice was very fragrant and there was a mild hint of curry powder. I would like to try their olive rice during my next visit.

The papaya salad was really refreshing and crunchy, but the only part I didn't like about it was that there was way too much raw garlic for my liking. I will order this again, but definitely ask them to tone down the garlic taste.

I'm very impressed by their flexibility - especially with being able to adjust the spiciness of the dishes, which is very important to me since I have extremely low and pathetic chilli tolerance. I was also very happy with their service (something that is very rare nowadays) well as the waiter's initiative.

It's pretty hard to find restaurants nowadays who actually bother to train their staff well, or who have staff who actually bother and take the initiative to inform customers about the in-house offers.I was so pleased that for once, I didn't feel annoyed that I had to pay 50 cents for my cold water. If you frequent Thai Express, I would strongly encourage you to give Porn's Thai Food a try - it's much more wallet friendly, and I personally think the dishes I had today were really delicious.

Porn's Sexy Thai Food 
Star Vista Outlet
1 Vista Exchange Green
#02-09 Singapore 138617
Opening Hours Monday to Sunday 11am to 10pm
Tel 66943501

Diandin Leluk - Golden Mile Complex

Ok so people are telling me to blog about cheaper things - I've already blogged about my favourite Japanese dessert place where you can get cheap desserts and nice ambience, as well as 1 for 1 offers, credit card discounts (super good! I like credit card discounts!!). And cheap Ice Queen Ice Cream too!

Went to Golden Mile with ice after she brought me to eat Ice Queen Ice Cream. I had my 3 scoops of ice cream before my lunch, and now I know why people don't take desserts before their mains. (I used to be able to eat lots of desserts before my mains but maybe I'm growing old!)

To beat the sweltering heat of the day, I had the Iced Lemongrass tea (I think it was $1.50 or $1.90). The drink on the left is ice's Thai Iced Tea.
This is my incredibly cheap pad thai - it's only $4.90, and has quite a few (small) shrimps inside, lots of tofu and bean sprouts, and delicious little bits of egg. I hate the attenuated kind (the kind served in most Thai places, especially if they're catering for the Western crowd).
I love how the spices in pad thai taste, all the fish sauce (yum! I like the taste of fish sauce), tamarind (? is that what goes into pad thai?). As well as the chewy slightly sticky translucent noodles. This has got to be my most favourite thai food, and green curry too! This tastes exactly like how pad thai tastes in Thailand (maybe not as good? but it's the closest that I'll probably get, with the airfair plus hotel stay being nearly 700 bucks - I'd rather stay in sgp and eat!)
The spices found at every table - some chilli powder with lots of sugar, chilli sauce, sugar and ground nuts. It's a great place to go for Thai food, you can't get more authentic than this in sgp (besides First the worst Thai, which I will not go near with a ten foot pole, except maybe to irritate them by being their first customer again), and I'm sure this place is cheaper. PLUS PLUS PLUS , it's aircon! can you believe it, pad thai for $4.90 in an airconditioned restaurant...
Diandin Leluk
#01-67/68/69
Golden Mile Complex
Tel 62935101

I'm going to come back again to try all the other cheap thai stuff that this place has!
Best of all, carpark here on Sundays is only $2 per entry, though the carpark is really creepy and old! I definitely won't wanna be parking here at night! Do note that the toilets at Golden Mile sucks madly - small tiles galore! I die die had to go cos I was going up to Malaysia via coach in April this year, and nearly died going to the toilet here - it's trying to compete with those in Msia!!!

After lunch, we decided to walk around Golden Mile Complex - it's exactly like Thailand (the food part) and there's soooo many different desserts.
I wonder if the egg thing is from quail's eggs, cos the omelettes are really small - but I was too full to even want to try it.
Thai vegetables - I've always wondered where people got the different eggplant things that you find in green currym but they're all here!
This is some thai snack which has a crispy wafer base, coconut cream, topped with shredded coconut. I really like the fresh ones from thailand, but here's the ready made ones. Ahh I wanna go Thailand! It's my 2nd favouritest country after Japan.
I dunno if it's a coincidence that they named this Simplex, or issit because of the virus?
Anyhow, it's near the sweets section (even though it shouldn't be!)

Limon

After I got so rudely chased away by the biatch at First Thai, I decided to try Limon, which is a month-old Thai/Spanish Restaurant. Being only a month old, the restaurant is nice and new. It has tasteful decor, and a soothing ambience. The decor reminds me somwhat of Cilantro, which used to occupy the same space.

They have a 1 for 1 set lunch promotion ($35++ per set lunch, $41 for 2 people with the offer), which I decided to try. They have 2 set lunch menus to choose from, one which has Thai dishes, and the other has Spanish dishes. First up was the Limon's Special Nuts mix, which was a variety of nuts marinated in a Thai- tasting dressing, with a slight hint of lemongrass (yum!) and a hint of spiciness.
It also comes with a refreshing drink - Limon's Special Lemongrasss Flavoured Punch, which had a fruity taste (I could taste mango and a very slight citrus taste).
This was the bread they served - it was lightly toasted and packed with different kinds of nuts and grains, and they even gave three different types of spreads.
For the Thai menu, the soup was Tom Kha Guy, which is a creamy coconut base chicken soup. There were lots of tender pieces of chicken, a delicious variety of mushrooms in a extremely aromatic broth. The soup was bursting with flavour and though it was very tasty, it wasn't too salty (like some Thai soups). The soup isn't spicy, so it's great for people like me who can't take spicy food :)

For the Spanish menu, it was Pumpkin Soup, which is a wholesome soup made of pureed pumpkin. The soup was smooth and thick even though there wasn't cream in the soup itself. It's a healthier choice as it's packed full of beta carotene and flavoured simply with freshly ground pepper.
Mains was the Lobster and King Prawn Pahd Thai. The pad thai here is extravagant - can't compare meat-wise to my $4.90 pad thai in Diandin Golden Mile - it has a huge-ass king prawn, and 2 pieces of lobster in it. The prawn was spurtingly fresh, and it's not the kind of bicarbonated prawn you find in most restaurants, meaning that the taste is not compromised.

Though the noodles were done really well, with just the right texture (slightly transparent and chewy), I thought that it might be better if it tasted more 'Thai'. Because of the strong Thai flavours in the soup, I was expecting the Pahd Thai to have more flavour. The pad thai here is is more ang-moh-fied with attenuated flavours. However, the basic taste of the pad thai is good, and does not taste like those tomato-tasting ones elsewhere.

The Paella with Seafood, Chicken, Spanish Sausage and Broad Beans was a sunset orange in colour, which contrasted beautifully with the black dish it was presented in. The rice was moist and yet not soggy, and the seafood was fresh and tasty. I prefered the Paella to the Pad Thai, but only because I love my pad thai reeking of thai spices and sauce. Dessert was Tom Banana with Pandanus Leaf and Coconut Sauce. The coconut sauce was rich and creamy, and the bananas were slightly sweetened. Actually, the lady boss says that their ice cream machine has yet to arrive, so the desserts don't have ice cream. I think this would be great with coconut ice cream.
The Spanish dessert was a Caramel Flan, which is also known as Crème caramel. I think this is a pretty good dessert choice as it is not as heavy as creme brulee or the likes, and yet has a soft texture. Their caramel sauce wasn't cloyingly sweet, so it was pretty good.
To end off the meal, they served Tea/Coffee . I liked how they served thewith a little chocolate almond biscuit on the side. Reminds me of Ember and their little muffin with a strawberry swirl :)

For me, $20 nett per person is really a bang for my buck. With the economic crisis, this is a great way to stretch your dollar, and yet enjoy a good meal with great ambience. If only I had the luxury of time, I'll spend a lazy afternoon lunching here - the decor is really very nice, especially if you sit upstairs, as they have tall windows draped with day curtains, muting the glare from the afternoon sun.

Limon

7 Purvis Street
Tel: 6333 9004

Aroy Thai

I really like Thai food, and I've found a very nice Thai restaurant which has good Thai food at reasonable prices. I've been there twice within a week already. When I go to new Thai restaurants, I will always order the Green Curry with Chicken, and Pad Thai, cos these are my two most favourite Thai dishes.This is the Green Curry with chicken. For me, a good green curry has to have the 'correct' ingredients such as cilantro, basil, eggplants, the green-coloured eggplants (which are small and round and have lots of seeds. ma-keua bprawh) and this pea-like green plant (I have just learnt that it's a specific type of eggplant called ma-keua puang). Most Thai restaurants in Singapore tend to omit the pea-like eggplant.

Aroy Thai serves Green Curry with all the eggplants. They're even so accommodating and even have the option to make the curry less spicy. The curry was slightly salty, thick with coconut milk and delicious. The chicken pieces were juicy and there was baby eggplants were well cooked and infused with the curry flavour.The pad thai had the right texture - slightly sticky and chewy. The first time I went there, it tasted really good cos there was enough fish sauce to give the pad thai its distinct smell and flavour, and it had just the right amount of tamarind paste and sugar for it to be sweet-sour. The second time I went to Aroy Thai, the taste was quite off and it was way too sweet. But at only $6.90 for an ample portion it's a steal.On this plate, there is the Poo Ja on the left and the prawn cakes on the right. The Poo Ja is crabment mixed with chicken (or pork?), marinaded and stuffed back into a crab shell. It's then deep fried to give a crispy goodness. It's served with pickled cucumber and shallots.

The Thai Prawn Cakes were thick and juicy, and went really well with the tangy-sweet plum sauce. The batter was light and crispy, and when eaten dipped in plum sauce just out of the fryer, they make you forget you're paying $3.50 per piece.This is the Stuffed Chicken Wing ($3.90)- it's sold per piece, and there is NO minimum order required. (Which is quite good, most restaurants make you get a minimum order, even those BBQ chicken wings in hawker centres - I mean, they're already bbq-ing it already so why is there a need for a minimum order?)It's completely boneless and stuffed with minced pork. The minced pork tastes likethe one in the Poo Ja. I really wonder how they manage to keep the chicken wing in that shape while frying - how come everything doesn't just disintegrate and fall into bits in the fryer? This must be the bestest way ever to eat chicken wings- no need to tacle the two bones in the wing! :DFried Seafood Rice ($6.90) which tasted somewhat like normal fried rice with seafood.Olive rice ($6.90). The olives were salty and gave the rice lots of flavour, but I didn't quite like the garlic - maybe the garlic was overcooked so it was slightly bitter.

This is the Steamed Seabass with Lime. The fish was much huger than I expected - and I was dining with my mum only so we were quite overwhelmed. But I didn't regret ordering it as it was really delicious. For $25, you'll get a large fish which is fresh, and lots of the special 'soup'. The soup has lots of lime and is sweet-sour. There's lemongrass too, if i'm not mistaken. The soup isnt too salty, and it complements the fresh, clean tasting fish. Red Ruby ($3.50 per bowl) nothing very spectacular but I kind of thought the red rubies had a rose after taste - may be my tongue playing tricks on me cos I was eating this to cool down my very very hot and painful tongue after eating all the spicy food.
Mango Sticky Rice Dessert ($10.90). It's a whole mango - ripe enough to be sweet and juicy, and yet not mushy and bruised like the overripe kind. The sticky rice was soft and chewy (not dehydrated at all) and served with a splash of coconut cream.

tThe furnishing of the place is simple, but the restaurant is very clean - no grimy floors or oily tables. And the aircon is strong enough so that the air isn't stale and heavy with food smells.

The service here was quick and attentive, and they serve cold water, which is great cos the food was a bit too spicy for me. I tried the East Coast branch, which is supposed to be the original branch.

A-Roy Thai Restaurant

81 Upper East Coast Rd, Goodwill Court Spore 455220

Tel 64430373 *Closed on Monday

109 North bridge Road #04-06 Funan the IT Mall Spore 179097

Tel 63383880

Sweet | Salty | Spicy - Food Market & Thai Cusine

There's this new thai restaurant (it's only 2 months old) at Rail Mall, which till now, I have avoided cos it was such a crappy and run down place last time. But then it has alot of new and interesting restaurants now!
I've wanted to try this place since about a week ago, but it was closed cos it was a weekday and it was at 3pm. It looks very clean and nicely done up, and I really like thai food! Yay to finding more thai food near my house.

For the soup, we had clear chicken and prawn broth with young coconut and shitake mushrooms (eeps I can't remember the price it's about 10??). There was egg tofu inside too. However, I found the soup way too salty. Haiz should have tried the tom yum soup...
The next dish that came was the Tasting platter ($24, for 2 -3 persons), which is a selection of the starters. There was crispy soft shell crab with light curry sauce, which was very delicious cos they were juicy and meaty, unlike those cheapo kind that are dry hard and mostly batter. The light curry sauce went very well with the crispy crabs and it wasn't overly spicy. In the middle, there's the traditional prawn and vegetable rice rolls. The rice rolls were thick and chewy, and it was drenched in a sweet tamarind dressing. I liked the prawn and pomelo on betel leaves with palm sugar dressing and shredded coconut. There was just the right amount of dressing to coat, but not overpowering the sour pomelo segments and prawns. The shredded coconut also gave the dish an intersting texture. It's eaten wrapped up in the thick, waxy betel nut leaf. There was also rice cakes with warm chicken and prawn chilli dip. The rice cakes were a bit too crispy, and a bit dry, but the chilli dip was perfect - coconutty and with juicy morsels of prawn and chicken. This goes quite well with plain rice too.
I also enjoyed the tumeric chicken ($15), which was char grilled chicken marinaded with lemongrass, coriander root and coconut cream. We liked the sauce so much that we requested for another serving and they gladly gave it to us. The chicken was juicy and not dry, and well exceeded our expectations. The sauce was slightly tangy, a little salty and sweet.
I also ordered pad thai ($12), which I always get whenever I go to a new thai restaurant. It's my favourite thai dish ever! I didn't quite like the way the pad thai was done, because there wasn't enough fish sauce - so the noodles ended up tasting way too sugary sweet. Maybe the taste was attenuated for the mostly non-local clintele. The noodles were done just right - slightly gooey and translucent, with bits of scrambled egg, dried prawns and tofu, and it was a pity that there wasn't enough fish sauce.
We also tried the Baby Snapper green curry($14), which was a refreshing change from the usual chicken green curry. The curry sauce was thick and had lots of fragrant coconut cream. It is cooked with holy basil and apple eggplants (small, round little eggplants). The snapper was fresh and flaky, and went well with the thick spicy curry.

The dessert ended my dinner on a sweet note - We had Pavalova with brown sugar cream and mango ($9), as recommended by the manager. The pavalova was crispy and brittle on the outside, and it melts once in your mouth. The mango was sweet and juicy, and coupled with the brown sugar cream and toasted, shredded coconut and a piece of pavalova, was a winning combination.

Although the restaurant is a mere 2 months old, business was brisk on the Sunday night that I visited. The ambience is relaxed and there's very nice decor. The service is very good, with staff who are knowledgable about the menu, as well as attentive and filling up the water glasses once you're done. Despite the 2 misses (pad thai and soup), I would return to try other dishes that the restaurant has to offer.

Sweet Salty Spicy

392/392 Upper Bukit Timah Road

The Rail Mall Singapore 678046

Tel 68772544

Sweet Salty Spicy serves lunch till 4pm on weekends (I think, but do call to confirm)