[Baan Ying Singapore has closed as of July 2020]
I really like Baan Ying (ร้านอาหารบ้านหญิง) in Bangkok (both its Signature restaurants and Cafes), so it's with a great deal of skepticism that I went for dinner at Baan Ying at Royal Square Novena. I went to finally say hello to some old old friends whom I've missed loads. They're super busy folks, and am glad to catch up with them when they're in Singapore.
The kitchen churned out really good food for me at the levels of Thai-spicy and not Singapore-spicy. Hurhurhur. I stuck to very safe choices and ordered homestyle dishes. Everything was on point, except for the som tam. :P That one, fail. It isn't as finely sliced, pungent or spicy enough. I like my som tam elegant, spicy and pungent all at once. That wing bean salad was deliciously piquant. There were clear soups of tom yam seafood and mushrooms on the menu, but not for the prawns. The kitchen happily did a clear version of tom yam kung (ต้มยำกุ้งน้ำใส) for me. There were three proper giant Thai river prawns in it. NICE!
However, I wasn't impressed by how they charge S$0.50 for those stupid packets of wet tissue that I never bother with, but luckily they now allow you to return it, and they serve ‘alkaline water’ in a small carton at S$1.80 (not refillable obviously) and warm water at S$1. You know my pet peeve about how many mid-priced restaurants in Singapore justify charging for drinking water. Anyway, I usually carry a bottle of water around. I just hate to be held ransom to having to buy water at a restaurant on a day when I need it and have no water bottle at hand.
Although food and service standards fluctuate greatly even within Baan Ying’s Bangkok outlets, I found a measure of consistency in their branches at Silom complex and surprisingly, Central World. There's a certain style of Thai homestyle food I prefer (even if it’s just a ‘krapow gai’) and it's hard to find that in Singapore, and especially not at those eateries in Golden Mile Complex and such. I had a lovely experience at this first visit, and hope for more to come.
The thing is, the bosses were in town, and were friendly to all tables in the restaurant, checking in with each table to see if everything was in order. I'm not sure if that was the main reason why the food was good that evening. While items were ordered off the tablet, I had a number of customizations made verbally because there were no such options on the virtual menu. If the kitchen can maintain these standards, then I'd return often for a taste of 'home', so to speak.
The kitchen churned out really good food for me at the levels of Thai-spicy and not Singapore-spicy. Hurhurhur. I stuck to very safe choices and ordered homestyle dishes. Everything was on point, except for the som tam. :P That one, fail. It isn't as finely sliced, pungent or spicy enough. I like my som tam elegant, spicy and pungent all at once. That wing bean salad was deliciously piquant. There were clear soups of tom yam seafood and mushrooms on the menu, but not for the prawns. The kitchen happily did a clear version of tom yam kung (ต้มยำกุ้งน้ำใส) for me. There were three proper giant Thai river prawns in it. NICE!
However, I wasn't impressed by how they charge S$0.50 for those stupid packets of wet tissue that I never bother with, but luckily they now allow you to return it, and they serve ‘alkaline water’ in a small carton at S$1.80 (not refillable obviously) and warm water at S$1. You know my pet peeve about how many mid-priced restaurants in Singapore justify charging for drinking water. Anyway, I usually carry a bottle of water around. I just hate to be held ransom to having to buy water at a restaurant on a day when I need it and have no water bottle at hand.
Although food and service standards fluctuate greatly even within Baan Ying’s Bangkok outlets, I found a measure of consistency in their branches at Silom complex and surprisingly, Central World. There's a certain style of Thai homestyle food I prefer (even if it’s just a ‘krapow gai’) and it's hard to find that in Singapore, and especially not at those eateries in Golden Mile Complex and such. I had a lovely experience at this first visit, and hope for more to come.
The thing is, the bosses were in town, and were friendly to all tables in the restaurant, checking in with each table to see if everything was in order. I'm not sure if that was the main reason why the food was good that evening. While items were ordered off the tablet, I had a number of customizations made verbally because there were no such options on the virtual menu. If the kitchen can maintain these standards, then I'd return often for a taste of 'home', so to speak.
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| The jumbo river prawns from the tom yam soup. |
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