Petaling Jaya's Thai Corner

My family visits Petaling Jaya once in a blue moon. Two weeks ago, we found ourselves there yet again, after having paid a visit to Assunta Hospital. As we were on our way home, we happened to notice a bright sign that said Thai Corner while driving. We unanimously decided that this would be our restaurant of choice for dinner.

Thai Corner is a quaint Thai restaurant, situated along Jalan Yong Shook Lin, right opposite the MBPJ Office and the Petaling Jaya Civic Hall. The atmosphere was rather simple - not your Basil or Sri Ayutthaya, though the location was seemingly rather dingy during the night. We were served simple peanuts, while waiting for our food.

The first dish to arrive was our Seafood Tom Yam Soup worth RM16. This dish was sufficient enough to feed 4 people, though only my parents ate it due to its immense spiciness. The soup was flavourful and aromatic, though the squid and shrimp were incredibly tough and dry, respectively.

Next to arrive was the Fried Four Angle Bean with Shrimp Paste, worth RM10. This dish was value for money, and the beans were nice and crunchy, with the shrimp paste really bringing out the flavours.

The Steamed Fish with Assam Curry came next. Prices of this dish change, depending on how heavy your fish is. The fish that we had was rather soft and succulent, though the sauce was nothing to shout about, and it lacked the 'twang' that tamarinds have.

We ordered the Thai Green Curry with Chicken, worth RM13. This dish was a complete disappointment. Much of the chicken pieces contained plenty of fat, and the dish seemed rather artificial, to the extent that it may have been coloured by green food colouring. It lacked in any flavour whatsoever, and had a consistency to that of water. Two thumbs down.

The Thai Style Omelette was a disappointment too, as it was simply minced chicken with dark soy sauce, wrapped in a bland, flavourless egg. The portion was rather measly as well. Just as the Green Curry, I did not like this dish either.

On the whole, Thai Corner gives you what you pay for. The prices may be cheap but you forgo ambiance and the quality of food. Fair enough, some of the dishes were good, but if a Thai restaurant is not able to master a signature Thai dish like Green Curry, then you know the restaurant is not one to shout about.

Presentation: 3/10

Ambiance: 4/10

Service: 4/10

Overall Taste: 4/10

General Impression: 4/10

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Cheers,

BrianandRepublic

The Golden Triangle

My cousin had arrived from Melbourne and was keen to take us out for dinner. Being a foodie herself, we walked for a good 20 minutes in Solaris, looking for the perfect place to eat. Seeing as she hadn't had good Asian food in awhile, we settled for The Golden Triangle.

The Golden Triangle is located along the same stretch as other famous restaurants such as Dubrovnik and Michelangelo's in Solaris, Mont Kiara. The menu serves predominantly Thai dishes, though there are quite a few Laotian and Vietnamese dishes as well.

The Pineapple Fried Rice was a sweet, aromatic and flavourful dish that was filled with plump prawns, chicken slices. The flavour of the pineapple permeated the rice throughout, and the dish was good enough to eat on its own.

The Seafood Tom Yam Soup had an explosive flavour, and filled with a nice variety of seafood such as prawns, squid, muscles and fish. It was a pity that the dish was incredibly spicy, as the heat of the chilies overpowered the aroma of the soup.

The Green Curry with Chicken was a surprise to us all, as the dish had plenty of tender chicken pieces but not as much curry - going against the norm. The dish was not as spicy as the Tom Yam Soup and acted as a perfect accompaniment to the rice.

The Pandan Chicken was truly the highlight of the meal. Juicy, tender pieces of chicken were wrapped in pandan leaves that flavoured the chicken throughout. This dish was accompanied with a tangy tamarind-based dipping sauce.

Our Mango Kerabu Salad was a great side-dish that managed to cool down our heated taste-buds. The combination of sweet, sour and salty with the crispness of the raw mango was a great one.

The Deep Fried Soft-Shell Crab was a bit of a let down, as it consisted mainly of flour, rather than of the crab itself. We could barely taste the crab and we felt rather sick of this dish in the end.

The Vietnamese Spring Rolls were nothing to shout about either. Living in Vietnam for three years, I've tasted many wonderful renditions of this dish, and the Golden Triangle's version came nowhere close to some of the others that I've eaten.

Our Fried Calamari was, itself, a disappointment. Apart from chewing on the tough calamari, the dish seemed to be made up of mostly flour and batter, which was incredibly hard for us to bite.

My cousin ordered an Umbra with Sour Plum. This drink was very interesting, containing a nice balance of sweet, salty and sour flavours. Quite refreshing for a hot day, too.

On the whole, the Golden Triangle provided some pretty good renditions of Thai delicacies - especially the ones that included chicken. I feel that it would be advisable, however, to refrain from ordering any deep-fried dishes such as the soft-shell crab and the calamari. Other then that, its a great place to try!

Presentation: 7/10

Ambiance: 7/10

Service: 7/10

Overall Taste: 7/10

General Impression: 7/10

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Cheers,

BrianandRepublic

Revisiting Lanna Thai

Last Friday marked the first day of a week of work with my cousin, a notorious solicitor named Gary. This notorious solicitor happened to take his entire staff out to lunch that day and to my surprise, they chose Lanna Thai as our place of lunch - a place I had already been to a few weeks ago with my friend.

The first thing I had noticed upon walking in was that they were still playing cheesy Westlife songs at their restaurant. Sigh. Anyway, thats beside the point. If you must know once again, the restaurant is the 17th shop-lot along Jalan Telawi 2 in Bangsar Baru.

I was under the impression that we were going to order from the set lunch menu - which still remained the same as when I previously visited. I was wrong. We ordered from the a la carte menu, and we ordered quite a bit. I was really looking forward to this as I was finally about to be given a taste of what Lanna Thai really has to offer.

Upon ordering the dishes, my cousin had tested the service at Lanna Thai by asking them if they could give extra cushions for his staff - they felt uncomfortable. The waiters happily obliged and stole some cushions from the other seats, just for us.

As our appetizer, we had Deep Fried Spring Rolls with Shrimp. It was incredibly hot and crisp, indicating to me that they had just been deep fried. The simple dish was served with a sweet Thai chili sauce, a combination which worked very well. I had taken note that the prawns however, were a little bit overcooked and tasted a little dry.

Up next, we were served Butter Prawns. All of us came to the conclusion that the name was very misleading, as the dish simply looked more like deep fried, battered prawns to us. What did they actually mean by butter prawns? Nonetheless, the prawns were large and succulent, with the batter, nice and crisp - both ingredients being present in their appropriate amounts.

Up next, came the Stir-Fried Vegetables in Oyster Sauce. The vegetables were nice and crisp, with each type of vegetable retaining its own flavor. Upon tasting the dish, I also noticed that the sauce and vegetables were present in adequate amounts. The sauce had added to the flavour of the vegetables rather than overpower it. It was a wonderful dish.

We then had Thai Green Curry with Chicken. I must warn you that this dish can only be eaten by the faint of heart. I could, sort of - but I was sweating like mad. This dish though, was truly one of the better green curries I've tasted. The chicken pieces were in abundance and were really tender too - despite the other vegetables tasting unusually bitter.

Our last dish that arrived was the Stir Fried Chicken with Basil Leaves. This dish was a killer as well, as those really small chillies had been finely sliced and added into the dish. Nonetheless, the chicken pieces in this dish were really tender too. The flavor of the basil, the soy sauce and chicken complemented each other very well.

On the whole - apart from the music, I really enjoyed my lunch at Lanna Thai, which served me good quality and authentic Thai food that day. If you are in Bangsar and in the mood to try Thai food, then I would highly recommend Lanna Thai to you.

I didn't manage to look at the total bill or menu, but the food is slightly pricier than most Thai restaurants. Though, if you want quality food and classy ambiance, you simply must be able to pay up for it. Nonetheless, I still think it is quite worthwhile to give this place a try.

Presentation: 7/10

Ambiance: 8/10

Service: 7/10

Overall Taste: 7/10

General Impression: 7/10

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Cheers,

BrianandRepublic

Lunch at Lanna Thai

A friend and I decided to hang out before we were to part our ways for the summer, and Lanna Thai was our restaurant of choice for lunch. The restaurant is 17th shop-lot along Jalan Telawi 2 in Bangsar Baru.

At first glance, I was impressed with the ambiance of the place. It looked chic, warm and inviting. When I had settled in after being seated however, the question I had immediately had in mind was 'What the hell are they playing?' upon hearing songs by Westlife and ABBA - just to name a few.

I placed the music behind me, and placed my order for the set lunch, while my friend, being vegetarian that day, ordered Stir-fried Tofu with Oyster Sauce and Vegetables, and a bowl of white rice.

My Set Lunch worth RM 12.90 consisted of the above. The meat of the day was Fried Chicken topped with a Sweet Chilly Sauce. The chicken was a bit tough, but tasted succulent nonetheless. There was also too much sauce, which overpowered my taste-buds.

The Tom-Yam Soup was flavorful and had a lot of depth in it. It was slightly over-salted, but was definitely one of the better tom-yam's I've tasted in recent months. Deep Fried Anchovies are also provided on the side. These tasted like normal anchovies at corner stalls, though they were slightly sweeter.

The Kerabu Salad with peanuts was too sour, as it had too much of marinade which made it unbearable for me to eat, so I skipped that. Lastly, the Rice provided was a little bit hard and I felt it was slightly undercooked - only an ever so minor mistake in my eyes. My set also came with some Slices of Watermelon, which seemed fresh and were served nice and cold.

My friend's Stir-fried Tofu with Oyster Sauce and Vegetables costed RM11. The Japanese tofu was cooked well, though the oyster sauce lacked in flavor and tasted slightly bland. This had made the entire dish bland, though the portion given was of a reasonable amount for the price paid.

In my opinion, I think Lanna Thai is value for money when Set Lunches are concerned, with their overall quality fitting the price. There are also Set Dinners available and a reasonable variety on the A la Carte menu, some of which are priced quite reasonably.

I would definitely give Lanna Thai another chance when I have cravings for Thai food again as the staff were courteous, the ambience was chic and what the others were having seemed lip-smackingly delicious. Though based on this trip, my ratings for Lanna Thai would be:

Presentation: 6/10

Ambiance: 8/10

Service: 6/10

Overall Taste: 6/10

General Impression: 6/10

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Cheers,

BrianandRepublic

Laksa at Basil Thai Nudle Bar

My uncle and I visited Basil today, a Thai restaurant located in Bangsar Village. I consider it a rule of thumb when visiting any restaurant, to never order the same two dishes as the more variety there is, the better. This time round however, we both had the same thing on our minds, which was the Thai Laksa with a Green Curry.

I was quite curious as to what Laksa with Green Curry exactly was, considering the fact that Laksa was never a Thai thing. When the dish arrived, I saw what they meant by the term. It was simply rice noodles served with a side of bean sprouts, half a full-boiled egg and a bowl of Thai green curry with aubergines, basil leaves and chicken pieces.

The next thing that struck me was - How the hell am I meant to eat this? The green curry was served in a bowl - right to the brim, while the rest of the dish was served on a plate. I had a feeling that green curry poured onto a pile of noodles would call for quite a messy meal. I was right, as I got a few stains on my shirt at the end of it all.

Though hard to eat, the dish which costs RM13.50 was quite good, though a bit too spicy for my taste. The green curry was of a nice consistency, with tender chicken pieces. The bean sprouts were crunchy and the egg, which was served cold, added a lovely contrast when eaten with the hot curry.

As a drink I had Jasmine flavored Green Tea which costs RM5.90 - and what seemed to be a complete rip off as it was just a mere tea-bag in some hot water, served in a glass.

On the whole, I was filled to the brim that lunch - with my stomach suffering an uneasy feeling due to the spiciness of the curry. Apart from that factor (and the post-meal mess), I would say that it was a reasonably tasty dish, though not really value for money, considering the fact it costs RM13.50

Presentation: 5/10

Ambiance: 4/10

Service: 5/10

Overall Taste: 6/10

General Impression: 5/10

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Cheers,

BrianandRepublic