When I first heard about My Elephant sometimes last year (or 2 years ago?), I’ve been telling myself to pay a visit. But for some reasons that did not happen until just a couple weeks ago, and boy I wished I had done it way earlier. This place really lives up to all the hype circulating online.

My Elephant Thai restaurant at PJ Seksyen 17
My Elephant is situated at Happy Mansion, on the ground floor of the first of three really old school apartment blocks. The restaurant really does not fit in to the area, but that only adds to its charm. This is just a block from Food Foundary, a place that serves really good mille crepe.
We went at on a Wednesday night, and even then the place was packed with diners. A good sign, the three of us were seated, and then we made our orders. The restaurant is air conditioned, comfortable, and decorated with little ornaments and drawings that looks to be from Chatuchak, but not in a good way.

fish cake, seafood tomyam, brown rice, deep fried chicken
We ordered 5 dishes, and had brown rice to go with. I usually dislike brown rice (RM 3/pax), but over here they are rather fragrant and adds to the overall flavor when eaten with the other dishes.
The fish cake (RM
was slightly salty and not hiding any Thai “flavors”, a good dish to start.
When in a Thai restaurant, a must-order is usually the tomyam, and over here they serve up a pretty mean bowl. While not overly spicy, the seafood tomyam (RM 20) we was packed with mushroom, prawns, squid and more.
The deep fried chicken (RM 15) is my favorite dish of the evening. They were cut in small chunks with plenty of crispy skin accompanying each piece, and together with strong marinate and curry leaves, man, you have to really try it to realize that deep fried chicken can be this good. I like this more than KFC, and that is saying a lot, I love my KFC.

paku pakis, gai tod gratiam prik thai duck salad
The vegetable dish I ordered was paku pakis (fern, RM 15). I first tried fern at Lala Chong with cheesie and instantly loved it. The version here is even better, *yums*
Our last dish was Thai duck salad (gai tod gratiam prik, RM 15). A pretty typical Thai style salad that is sour, spicy, and work your tongue to its limit. We liked it too.

If you love Thai food and haven’t tried My Elephant yet, pay a visit. For weekends it is advisable to call for booking though.
Remember, consumption of awesome Thai food will leave you wanting more 2 days later, when you feel them coming out.
Address:
Block C-G4, Happy Mansion,
Jalan 17/13, Seksyen 17,
46400 Petaling Jaya, Selangor
GPS: 3.122486, 101.634747
Tel: 0 10-220 1283
Here’s one of my favorite little Thai food stall that’s tucked at the not so mysterious food court that is Ming Tien at Taman Megah. This little stall actually reminds me of those at Krabi, operated by a Thai lady who speaks a bit of Malay and Cantonese.

Thai food stall at Ming Tien food court
The stall operates from evening till late, and offers close to 10 authentic tasting Thai dishes – long bean rice, pineapple fried rice, belachan fried rice, vegetable, green curry, tomyam, sweet & sour siakap fish, kerabu chicken feet, and kerabu glass noodle.

green curry chicken, seafood tomyam, mixed vegetable
If I was eating alone, I usually order their long bean rice (RM 5), it’s basically a serving of rice with long bean and chicken cooked in something that resemble our local Malay paprik style but with even more of a kick to it.
For a balanced dinner fit for two, I ordered a bowl of green curry chicken, Thai tomyam, and mixed vegetable (all RM 7 per dish).
The portion of green curry was quite generous, with plenty of chicken, long bean, basil and such, packed quite a punch too. The tomyam had some decent ingredients (some prawns, squid, lala), and you aren’t beat the price, but it could do with a little thicker flavoring though.

Haze and KY at Ming Tien, late night dinner
I also particularly like the way Thai prepares their vegetables, with plenty of fish sauce! This one came with cauliflower, broccoli, basil, and a few prawns. You could argue that it offers slightly less value for money compared to the other two dishes, but I’m not about to complain for a dinner that costs less than RM 25 for two.
Give it a try!

Address:
Ming Tien Hawker Center
Jalan SS24/8, Taman Megah,
Petaling Jaya, Selangor
GPS: 3.114334, 101.611658
A couple weeks ago I received an email from one of my readers by the name of Von who asked if I could do a review on Seeri Authentic Thai Restaurant.
Her exact wordings include:
“I found the green curry at that place just excellent, and hope that place won’t close shop as not many people know about it. It will be a waste to let such good food close shop.”
The email came across to me as pretty honest, so last week I suggested to some #porkgang jokers that we should give it a try, and we did just that.

Seeri Authentic Thai Restaurant, so authentic it’s in the name :S
Seeri Authentic Thai Restaurant is located on the same row as Kayu (which serves pretty good roti tissue) at the slightly less glamorous side of SS2, the Chow Yang area. Parking is usually not a terribly difficult exercise in this area.
When we arrived, there were only a couple other tables occupied. It was pretty quiet, but I wasn’t deterred. With it’s rather bland interior decoration and cheap plastic chairs, it’s not hard to imagine the lack of attraction to potential uninformed customers.

seafood tomyam, fried kai lan with mushroom, green curry with chicken
For the 8 of us, we ordered up quite a feast. Seafood tomyam and the recommended green curry were a no brainer, we also had vegetable, steamed fish, egg, squid, and pandan chicken.
Seafood tomyam (RM 30) came in an old school steamboat and actually turned out quite good, we didn’t order it very spicy (due to several low tolerance member) but it still had a zing, and ingredients were plenty full too. The recommended green curry chicken (RM 15) did not disappoint at all either, the curry was very rich with santan and yet super flavorful.
Fried kailan with mushroom (RM 12) was just to satisfy vitamin C quota. Nothing too exciting there.

steamed siakap fish, fried egg with crab meat, Thai style squid, pandan chicken
The steamed siakap (RM 30) we ordered was prepared the traditional Thai style. Last I had this was at De Chiengmai at Sungai Buloh, and while the soup based here was very delicious, I find that the fish wasn’t very fresh nor was it prepared properly. Perhaps I am spoiled by super fresh “live” fish at Chinese restaurants, but I do expect this situation to improve if business turns brisk.
Fried egg with crab meat (RM 14) was very delicious even though we could taste little crab meat. The squid (RM 12) too was very rich in flavor with plenty of basil, chili, and even whole pepper; I could be happier if they removed the eyes and beaks off the squid’s head though.

Kim, Cheesie, Jac, Eric, Suan, Kerol, and 4-eye KY
Last but not least, we also had the pandan chicken (RM 30, 10 pieces). They were rather fragrant and pretty tasty, but we had too much food, and the portion was a bit too big. If you were ordering this, better specify the exact amount you need.
With rice, plenty of cold fresh coconut (RM 4.5), and other drinks, dinner came to RM 197 or about RM 25 per pax, pretty decent for what we ordered. I’m sure Seeri Authentic Thai Restaurant is a place worth revisiting. *burp*

Seeri Authentic Thai Restaurant is located the same row as KAYU
Address:
Seeri Authentic Thai Restaurant
No.26 Jalan SS2/10,
Petaling Jaya, Selangor
GPS: 3.115587,101.616926
Tel: 03-7877 7659, 012-378 9618
kailan – 12, egg 14, squid 12, pandan chicken 20, tomyam 30, fish 30, coconut 4.5, logan 3, chinese tea 1. total 197
On my first trip to Melbourne last April, I tried to avoid food that are available here in Malaysia. I sorta ran out of options rather quickly, so on the second trip, I was ready and more than willing to have some of the meals usually associated with students living here instead.
In a way, instead of having a traditional holiday to Melbourne, I spent the 10 days I was there like a typical student would. I ate the same food, watched a bit of TV series, and even went to a lecture with Mellissa!

Ying Thai 2, rather authentic and very tasty
So when Mell and I were meeting Pinky and Kah Kit, we had it at Ying Thai 2 instead of a place that serves “western” or Australian food. The last we met was April, at Notturno (which happens to be just across the same street), and at Supper Inn for, well, supper.
Ying Thai 2 is a Thai restaurant run by, at the face of it, mostly Thai people. When we got there at around 8pm on a weekday, it was still fully packed. We had to wait for some 30 minutes before securing an alfresco style table. Luckily the outdoor heater was on.

tomyam, green curry, and minced pork with basil
We quickly made our orders, and as usual, being the least picky eater in the group, I let the others do the honor. This also means that I get to enjoy different tastes most of the time, instead of always ordering something I am familiar with.
We asked for 4 dishes: seafood tomyam, green curry chicken, minced pork with basil, and chicken in pandan leave. We also ordered coconut rice instead of normal steamed rice to go with them.

coconut rice and chicken in pandan leaves
It took quite a bit to get our food as the place was extremely busy, to make matter worse, we had to deal with the smell that comes off from the restaurant with our empty stomach. It was a torture, but it was also well worth it.
The green curry chicken and the seafood tomyam was no different from those you get at any good Thai restaurants. The curry rich in coconut milk and come with all the ingredients you expect, while the tomyam is not overly spicy, it was full of seafood ingredients and still manage to provide a small kick.

Mell, KY, Pinky, Kah Kit
The pandan chicken was even better, on par with some of the bests I’ve had. Soft and very flavorful, they go well with the extra fragrant coconut rice, I like the rice a lot more than normal steamed rice or even sticky rice.
However, the best dish of the day had to be the minced pork with basil. It was spicy, it had the flavor of pork, basil (one of my favorite herbs), red chilli, and whatever sauce the chef put in. The result was something with a kick, it was spicy, it was tasty, and it was very addictive.

It was a good dinner session, with great food and of course, Pinky is one of my favorite persons whom I got to know via Nuffnang over a year ago. Incidentally, Mell worked with Pinky during her internship and that was how we got to know each other.
Address:
Ying Thai 2
110 Lygon St,
Carlton VIC 3053,
Australia
GPS: -37.804329,144.966424
Tel: 03-9639 1697
p/s: I have a few more Melbourne food posts to complete before the memory escapes my mind, so bear with me.
Since I am heading to Krabi in a few hours’ time, it is appropriate that I write about the awesome dinners Mell and I had during our visit to Bangkok last February. Something that I shouldn’t have waited so long to do, but there’re just so many things and so little time, oh well!

this guy sells a few types of typical Thai dishes
Our first dinner at Bangkok was infact our second night there, after a long day at the city, we came back to our hotel at Reflections Rooms and decided to dine right by street next to the hotel lobby. I ordered two plates of Pad See Yew for dinner.

Pad See Yew, with plenty of chili padi if you need them
The pad see yew is basically fried flat rice noodle with vegetable, egg, pork (sometimes substitute with chicken or beef), and vegetable. Fish sauce, soy sauce, and pepper are also among the ingredients that made up this dish. I’ve had pad see yew quite a number of times, and this must be one of the best tasting I’ve tried yet.
The dinner was around 70 baht, water was free.

a stall offering variety of dishes with rice
After having a pretty tiring first day at Chatuchak, we decided to try the other stall right next to the first one we ordered pad see yew from. This is one of the many stalls that littered the streets offering a wide variety of dishes that goes with rice. They only have 2-3 tables set up by the pavement, I guess most of their business are the drive-through type.

long bean with chicken, and seafood tomyam
We ordered a bowl of seafood tomyam, and with some sign language mad skills, I managed to also ordered long bean with chicken to go with two rice.
The tomyam was so good! Very sour, spicy, and full of that authentic tomyam that is so tough to find outside Thailand. Though the ingredients were nothing luxurious (some small shrimps, a bit of squid, mushroom, ginger, green onion, shallots, chili padi), the overall taste was just superb.

yes, the tomyam were spicy!
The chicken with long bean too was a very tasty dish that goes really well with rice. Though not quite as hot as the tomyam, this vegetable dish too came with green pepper (jalopeno?) and some chili padi. The base had a strong taste of fish sauce that worked well with the chicken and provided good contrast to the tomyam.
Everything came to only 110 baht, again, ice water was free.

fried egg, squid with cabbage, and tomyam
We went to the same place again for the third consecutive night cos the food was just so good. This time we asked for (by pointing and sign language yet again) fried egg that looks and tasted much like our local telur dadar; a squid and cabbage dish that for once, isn’t really something spicy, but pretty tasty nonetheless; and of course, the very same tomyam again.
It costs a something like 140 baht this time, and oh so delicious!

another stall further to the west of our hotel
Tragically, when we went back to the same place on our last night at Bangkok, we discovered the hard way that the stalls are closed on Mondays. We then walked a few minutes to the west of our hotel (still on Pradipat Road) and chanced up upon this other hawker stall that offers similar type of foods. As usual, my super limited Thai and some hand gestures came to rescue.

tomyam, pork with brinjal, kangkung with chicken
We ordered tomyam with fish, a pork dish, and a kangkung with chicken to go with rice. The tomyam was different this time, a bit more sour than previous, less soupy, and a lot more spices. I feel that I prefer the previous version but some might like the intensity of this one.
Cooked with sweet sauce, peppercorn, basil, and a type of brinjal, the fatty pork slices soaked in the flavor and made the pork dishes rather delicious. As for the kangkung, well, it wasn’t very different from what we get here, but did provide a contrast to all the meat dishes we had.
If I remember correctly, this meal was around 200 baht. A bit pricier probably due to the fact hat we had more meat dishes.

map of Reflections Rooms Hotel
Address:
Outside Reflections Rooms Hotel
224/2-18 Pradipat Rd.,
Samsennai,Phayathai,
Bangkok 10400 Thailand
GPS: 13.790110,100.545947