Kafe Thai Pan Delights @ Kuchai Lama

We first saw Kafe Thai Pan Delights when we were having a meal at a cafe a few months back ( which sadly had closed down) and on that particular day , it was the opening day for Thai Pan, I made a mental note to try it out someday. Fast forward a few months -read a good  review in The Star ( click here for article)  and that hasten the trip.

We weren’t sure what to order, so we asked the person serving us to give us some recommendations , and from her list, we chose – Fried Pad Thai (RM6.80) ,Green Curry Chicken with rice (RM7.80),  Otak2 seafood (RM12) and Thai Cendol (RM2.50). Their other popular dishes : belacan fried rice, tom yam soup ( chicken/ seafood). Mango sticky rice, pineapple fried rice, beef ball noodle soup, papaya/mango salad and   chicken feet + pamelo.

Fried Pad Thai – the thinner version of  koay teow had a nice springy and smooth texture, It was slightly sweet with a tinge of spice. The dish came  with taugeh ( beansprouts), pieces of chicken, prawns, carrot shreds, egg and roasted peanut. Nice…

 

Green curry chicken with rice – you get rice, a bowl of green curry, egg shreds and a few pieces of fried dried fish ( not salted fish) plus slices of cucumber and tomato. The curry was rich , fragrant and so tasty-. the chicken slices were tender, the longbeans were crunchy , the gravy was yummy , oh boy, I can’t get enough of it. Aroy ChingChing (very delicious). Goes very well with rice . Perfecto !

 

Otak2 seafood – this dish arrived wrapped in foil and as I always had the impression that otak2 should be solid, it was kinda surprising to see this dish was kinda wet and ‘loose’. And there seemed to be plenty of chili in it, which got me kinda worried. Looks can be deceiving though .. it wasn’t too spicy and had some tinge of sweet in it. The otak2 chunks/ flakes were creamy and rich. Other ingredients include : cabbage, sotong ( squid) and  prawns. Another dish that didn’t disappoint.

 

Thai Cendol – we ordered this because we expected it to be the type of chewy, springy ( and often colourful) cendol we get in Thailand, but this turn out to be our regular green cendol. The cendol was served with wedges of sweet potato. The santan and gula melaka wasn’t too heavy. I find the cendol ( which kinda melt in the mouth) a bit too soft for my liking So, when we were settling the bill, and after praising the delicious food, I commented about the cendol and was corrected by the cashier( looks like the owner) that, that is the specialty of their homemake cendol and their customers liked this so much (oh oh..but it was still too soft for my liking lah )

 

Overall, a very enjoyable meal. i would love to go back again and try the other dishes.

 

 Location :

Thai Pan Delights is at a corner lot opposite  JoJo’s Kitchen – refer to map here

Kafe Thai Pan Delights

28 Jalan Kuchai Maju 9,

Off Kuchai Lama

58200 KL

Tel :  79840778

Amarin Heavenly Thai @Midvalley Megamall

Our office had some foreign guests and after an elaborate Chinese meal the night before ( details still to be posted) and all the tea breaks in between, most of us were groaning when it’s time for dinner and would pretty much rather have a lie down then eat. Anyway, eat we must, and everyone ‘aye’ when Thai food was suggested( actually,I think they would say  ‘aye’ to anything as long as they get some beers with the meal  )

When we called Amarin to reserve a table , they said that the private room was already taken up, and the waiter suggested that we order the food first as they have quite a big crowd that night and we might be in for a long wait, anyway, we decide to order when we get to the restaurant.

A very good looking waiter ( drat ! I didn’t get his name) took our orders and our guests were pretty disappointed when they wanted to try Singha beer and was told that it was out of stock, so they had to do with the other regular brands .

The placemats deserve a mention, it had Thai (/ Chinese ?)  animal horoscope on them, and we were swapping placemats around the table in order to read about what the year had in store for us

For starters, we had Mieng Kam ( RM15), this is one of my favourites at Amarin as not many Thai restaurant in KL serve this. The platter includes ( pix below, clockwise)  : Daun Kaduk ( kaduk leaves)- which look like dauh sireh ( same shape) but it’s not , ginger, onions, chili padi, lime, roasted dried prawns, roasted coconut and roasted peanut, in the middle is the sauce. Procedure : take a piece of daun kaduk, apply the sauce (don’t worry ,  it’s not spicy, – kinda sweet sourish) and then add whatever you fancy into the leave, roll it up and then take a bite. Yummyy..the sour of the lime, the crunchiness of the peanut, the spiciness from the chili, the heat from the ginger, the fragrant of the coconut, dried prawns – what a great combination.

 

Fish Cakes ( for RM15 you get 5 pcs) , the Thai style fish cakes are usually ‘tougher’ compared to the softer Malaysian fish cakes. There were some bits of chili padi and long bean in these too. This was ok – although I would prefer more long beans in the fish paste.

 

Fried bean curd ( RM15) was nice, deep fried and crunchy on the outside , soft and tasty on the inside. The tofu  went very well with the chili sauce which was sweet and mildly spicy.

 

Green curry chicken ( RM16) – the chicken slices came with brinjals and long bean, the gravy was very rich and aromatic . It wasn’t spicy and the mat sallehs enjoyed this very much.

 

Mango salad with soft shelled crabs ( RM19) , the other option was salad with fish but since we were going to order a main fish dish , we decided to go with crabs, and I must say that was a good choice. The crabs were coated in a thin batter and deep fried, you get to experience biting into a few different  texture as you bite passed the crunchy outer crust , the crunchy ( soft shell) and into the soft flesh. The mango salad was a disappointment though, the spiciness overpowered the sour and sweet , which was lacking in this dish. This dish was packed with Chili padi and this resulted in many red faces ( and sudden gulps of beers ) as they accidently bit the chilies

 

The Japanese guest would like to ‘try’ Tom Yam, so we ordered a pot ( for 2-3 pax) of Thick Tom Yam Seafood ( RM39.90). You can decide on the level of spiciness of the soup when you order, so, if you want to be a hero, go ahead. Anyway, we asked for ‘mild’. The mat sallehs stayed away from the soup but fished out the ingredients which include : chunks of fish, cuttlefish and prawns. It’s  bearable spicy ( my level, which is very low) and had a distinct  lemongrass flavour , slightly sourish, we managed to get about 6 half full bowls out of the pot.

  

Fried fish with Thai chili ( RM48) – the fish was deep fried and thai chili sauce poured over it. This was nice , although the sauce looks pretty spicy, it was only mildly spicy, slightly sweet and mildly spicy to be exact ,  and blended very well with the fish.

 

 We also had Kailan with salted fish- which was normal. (they started attacking the dish before I get a chance to  get my camera, so, sorry, no pix)

If you are undecided on what you want for dessert, the waiter will come around and bring you a ‘sample’ of what they look like. We ordered Chestnut with coconut milk ( RM8), Thai Cendol ( RM6) – which looks and taste like local cendol  and Mango with sticky rice (RM12).

Overall , an ok meal and in terms of price, it’s can be pricey, although please watch out for promotions, we dined at Amarina few times and I think we never had to pay in full  as there are always some kind of promo or another from selected credit card companies, and you get 15- 20% off the bill ( food only, minus beverages). And during this visit, we get 50% off for using a CIMB credit card! 

 NB: Amarin means “Heaven” in Thai

Amarin Heavenly Thai
Level 2, Center Court
Mid Valley Megamall,
Kuala Lumpur.
Tel : 03 2938 3187

Restoran Thai Sabye-Sabye @ Old Klang Road

I passed this restaurant countless time when I shop for groceries at Plaza Central ( not the Sentral train station la..but the building next to Pearl International Hotel, Old Klang Road) , but never crossed my mind to have a meal here, it’s like that lo, things that you see all the time, it’s sorta become  part of the furniture liao ..err..a bit like family members

As we stepped into Sabye -Sabye ( which means – pleasant, good, well) , we were greeted by a friendly waitress clad in Thai Silk outfit, we were shown to our table. At the back portion  of the restaurant, there are 3 compartments ( opened, though)  serving as private rooms of some sort.

Even before placing our orders, another waitress came by our table and offered us the free dessert – which was steamed tapioca with coconut milk, it was not too bad, although i would like it better if the tapioca pieces were softer ( but no matter how, free things are always welcomed lor).

 The menu include ( there are more on the actual menu lah, I actually copied more than what I listed below, but err..i couldn’t decipher some of my writing)  :

Soup : tom yam seafood, fish fillet (both RM6/pax) or prawns (RM7) ; Sharkfin + crab meat ( RM28)

Salad: mango salad, lemongrass,  four angle bean, glass noodles, chicken feet, glass noodles prawn, petai prawns

Steamed fish: soya steamed, asam or  nyoya or a few variety of deep fried fish dish

Squid _ belacan, paprika, honey

Chicken: mango, red curry, green curry, lemon grass, cashew nut or pandan leave

Beef: sizzling,black pepper, ginger onion, oyster sauce

Beancurd:crab mean, claypot, sizzling

Crab: soft shell, salted egg, butter

Snacks : otak -otak (RM15/piece), Thai style fish cakes (RM12 / 6pcs)

Omellet

Vegetables : kangkong, kai lan, broccoli, mixed vege, petai

Noodles : TomYam koay teow; tom yam glass noodles, gravy koay teow, thai style fried koay teow

Rice : pineapple fried rice, Thai belacan FR, Petai FR, Beef FR, Butter chicken FR, Golden chicken FR, Sweet and sour chicken FR, Pattaya seafood FR

Drinks : coconut, fresh juices, tea, coffee

Dessert : Tap Tim krob , Thai style jelly, Thai ABC, sticky rice with mango

For salad, the waitress recommended the mango salad or the chicken feet, but we decided to go with lemongrass salad (RM10)  (we asked more details about the dish and  the waitress had to go to the kitchen and asked the cook about it, because not that many people order this) Well, I tell you haa….please order this dish if you do visit Sabye Sabye, it’s a wonderful dish…the fresh flavour of lemon grass, plus peanuts, crunchy dried shrimps, onions, chili padi, the sweet, sour, pedas HMMMMM…very good !

We weren’t feeling very generous that day, so opted for fried rice and noodles for that day. I like petai and had never tasted petai fried rice (RM8.80), when the dish arrive, it doesn’t look that impressive ( don’t see that much of ingredients) and only a few thinly cut petai, but taking my first mouthful-the distinct taste  of the smelly beans (petai)  blends in very well with the friend rice and as I dig deeper into the pile of rice, there were bigger pieces of petai waiting to be discovered..an interesting dish, no regrets in ordering this.

The Thai style Char koay teow (RM7.80) appeared all wrapped up in fried omelet  ( like the Pattaya friend rice version) and around this little bundle, are cucumber slices, raw taugeh, spring onions, chili powder and  chopped peanuts. It taste like regular koay teow, with  a lot of chicken slices in the noodles.  

Overall , a pretty enjoyable meal, still reminiscing about the lemongrass salad..Sabye Sabye

Opening Hours : 11:30am – 10.30pm ( Everyday)

Restoran Thai Sabye Sabye

G62 Lucky Plaza Bandar Park,

Jalan Awan Mendung Batu 5,

Off Jalan Klang Lama,

58200 Kuala Lumpur

Tel : 79812887

www.thaisabyesabye.com.my   ( this link doesn’t seem to be working )