KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 27 — Back in Bangkok, I would hear my Thai friends say “Taan a rai dee krub?”, which basically meant “What should we eat?” or “What tastes good?”
(That’s the polite version, at any rate. For my closer friends, they’d use the more casual “Gin a rai dee?” The switching between formal and informal speech, depending on seniority and level of intimacy, always fascinates me. What a beautiful language.)
I love that question, for it always meant a healthy debate on what to eat next, and everyone had an opinion. The best part was that nearly all the suggestions were good ones.
It’s easy to find good food in Thailand, you see. One is spoiled for choice.
Outside of the Land of Smiles, however, too often we find Thai cuisine watered down or adapted for local palates.
More often than not, this means spicy dishes end up fairly tame compared to the originals. Substitutes are common; I had pad krapao once at a supposedly authentic Thai restaurant that used Thai sweet basil instead of the correct holy basil.
Which is why it is a nice surprise to stumble upon Taan Thai at Sunway Velocity. The restaurant straddles convenience (located as it is in the basement food level) and a slightly more elevated fare than the usual Thai street food or mookata offerings elsewhere.
The menu is extensive but our helpful server made some suggestions, though ultimately we stuck to a mix of old favourites and new dishes we’ve not encountered before.
You can’t go wrong with Thai milk tea (cha nom yen); Taan Thai’s version showcases a smidgen of dramatic flair by separating the milk and the Thai tea.
Given how common this gimmick is nowadays at specialty coffee shops, the thrill is, admittedly, missing.
However, it is useful as we could adjust the beverage to our liking, leaving some of the tea for later to avoid it being diluted too much by the melting ice cubes.
For something different, there is their coffee blossom tea (kafae “blossom”), which reminded me of brewed cascara, a type of tea made from the dried outer husks and pulp of the coffee cherry.
Unlike cascara, which is typically more fruity and tart, the kafae “blossom” tasted more earthy.
Time for our mains, or our starches to be exact. (How could we have a South-east Asian meal without rice or noodles, right?)
My favourite dish when visiting Chiang Mai is khao soi gai, which is a Northern style chicken curry noodle dish. Creamy coconut milk and red curry paste (hence the golden hue of the broth) make this an utterly aromatic bowl.
Beyond the hefty chicken drumstick (fall-off-the-bone, as expected), the key ingredient has to be the iconic topping of crunchy deep-fried egg noodles. A lovely contrast to the softer, boiled noodles hidden beneath in the soup.
Some pickled mustard greens, raw shallots and lime help cut through the richness of the broth. Don’t forget to add a bit of the prik nam man, that dark red and smoky chilli oil that is served alongside the khao soi — it’s so addictive!
A simpler looking but no less scrumptious choice of carbs, the shrimp roe fried rice with tiger prawns (khao pad man goong) is intensely savoury, with an extra hit of umami from the divine addition of dried shrimp.
Given the abundance of sharing plate options, we shortlisted our picks to one vegetable and one protein.
For the former, we had the crispy morning glory with Taan Thai special sauce (phak bung tod krob kab nam chim rot priao ped). The staff told us that the sauce in question is made with prawn and pork.
Chunky and spicy, this dip (or dressing, if you pour it over the tempura fried greens, though this will make them soggy rather quickly) truly transforms the phak bung tod krob; we agreed this was the showstopper of our meal.
The Isaan style grilled pork neck (kor moo yang) is more tender than charred. There’s no replacing the roadside vendors in tiny Thai back lanes, I guess, grilling meat over smoky charcoal.
Instead what Taan Thai reminds us of is Kub Kao’ Kub Pla, Baan Ice and Khua Kling Pak Sod: Thai restaurants in Bangkok shopping malls, offering a good balance of comfort (read: air conditioning) and refined casual dining.
These are places where local Thais actually eat, at least my friends in Bangkok, when they ask each other “Gin a rai dee?”
Now I know where to bring them when they visit KL and ask me the same question here.
Taan Thai
B-25, Level B1,
Sunway Velocity Mall,
Cheras, KL.
Open daily 11am-9:30pm
Phone: 011-6547 1811
FB: https://www.facebook.com/taanthaimy/
IG: https://www.instagram.com/taanthaimy/
For more food fables and café chronicles, visit Life for Beginners.
* This is an independent review where the writer paid for the meal.
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