Ahh I miss hopping on a plane and flying out to Thai cities. ฉันคิดถึงการสังสรรค์กับเพื่อนๆในกรุงเทพฯ I miss the whole thrill and anticipation of getting there and at some point, catch up with the friends in Bangkok (mainly). I miss speaking in the language at length, and being immersed in the grittiness of the city. For all the grey Bangkok is, I also love it- the cacophony, the heat and the starkness. Most of all, I miss the food and all its glorious spices.
Having Thai food in Singapore just isn't the same. Most restaurants can't churn out the ratio of flavors I love. The cooks here clearly tweak them. Majority of the som tam served here is a gigantic fail. I try to explore go beyond eating at Yhingthai Palace, Un-Yang-Kor-Dai and Kra Pow Thai (Far East Plaza), but not all flavors at new-to-me eateries hit the spot. These few eateries I went to for three meals last week serve up nothing mind-blowing, but they're convenient to schedules of the day, and the food is of course edible.
Pratunam Market Place & Bar
Stopped by a newly opened Pratunam Market Place & Bar. The decor and all indicated that it's mainly a drinks sort of place. If you want more food options, there's the next door Zenso Thai which does decent krapow things.
When the som tam arrived, it was an LOL moment. This isn't any som tam! It's a re-worked mango salad, emphasis on salad. HAHAHAHA. The spinach and rocket leaves were hilarious. The crab fried rice and the braised pork leg rice were good! Hipster portions and presentation, but good! The chilli sauce it came with was tangy and spicy. Mmmmm.
There was a one-for-one drinks offer for ladies that night, okay lor. Beer it was. Heck, I even miss Chang beer. Well, a cold beer goes down well. Drink fast; some beers just taste horrid after it stands for five minutes. Hahaha.
Basil & Thyme
We go to Basil & Thyme for its convenient location at Parkland Green, East Coast Park in the evenings. We hardly stop by other restaurants there because I'm really not hot about pizza, fried foods, mediocre pasta and glorified fast food. Just gimme some som tam or kway teow or whatever noodle-thingies.
That night, we popped in for dinner with the parentals. This meal wasn't for their comfort or convenience, otherwise we'd just end up in restaurants at hotels or very boring Chinese restaurants. (If they want to have the dog join us, then they'll have to learn to bear with sitting outdoors and be comfortable with no air-conditioning and plush seats. No sympathy there from us.) It would do them some good to feel the sea breeze and salt, breathe in fresh air, and be in a park instead of a mall.
Bangkok J.N. Thai Food
Met the BFF in the hood and we went to lunch at Bangkok J.N. Thai Food at Mega Foodcourt (567 Balestier Road). The stall is located in one of those ubiquitous kopitiams across the island that we hop in for convenience. Food at the stalls ain't great, but they would do for a meal. I was doing a random search and came across the commercial listing that this kopitiam is tenanted till February 2021 and is up for sale, at S$8.2m. LOL Dunno if the food stalls will remain unchanged beyond that.
The stall's extensive menu is plastered on the wall and the signage. It feels more like Thai-Chinese zi char with some spices rather than Thai food. They don't do somtam, but the menu offers a mango salad. We shared an olive fried rice, stir-fried kailan in oyster sauce and a basil minced pork.
The basil pork is ermmm.... plain. It's one of least fragrant ones I've come across, with the spice level at virtually zero. The stall provided two sauces- chilli padi and fish sauce, and their homemade chilli shrimp dip. Those were pretty decent, lending some much-needed spices to the meal.
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