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

Tags:  cheesie,  eric,  fish,  green curry,  jaclyn,  kerol,  kimberly,  spicy,  SS2 SS3 SS4,  suanie,  thai,  tomyam

Posted by KY | 30 Comments »

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.

Tags:  kah kit,  lygon,  melbourne,  mellissa,  pinky,  pork,  thai-food,  tomyam

Posted by KY | 27 Comments »

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

Tags:  bangkok,  hawker,  mellissa,  pad see yew,  spicy,  street food,  Thailand,  tomyam

Posted by KY | 31 Comments »

The mat salleh suggested that we go to De Chiengmai Thai Seafood restaurant at Sungai Buloh after reading the Malay tomyam place I posted on monsterblog a few weeks ago. Together with Kelvin, we promptly did that the following weekend.

very nice ambience

Getting to there is no trivial stuff, the restaurant is located deep in a kampung at Sungai Buloh. However, with the senior’s memory and a little luck, we finally reached there after only one wrong turn. For the readers here, you guys are lucky, there’s now, of course, a map (see below)

The architecture of the restaurant reminded me of cultural centers and museums more than a place to cure hunger. Nicely decorated and quiet, De Chiengmai offers a good ambience for dining. There are also ample parking space.

tomyam, otak-otak, steamed fish, pandan chicken

We ordered 4 dishes for the 3 of us. A must-order steamed siakap fish (bass), seafood tomyam, otak-otak, and pandan chicken. It didn’t take long before the dishes were served, with the more aromatic Thai rice to go with them.

real charcoal, and super fresh vegetable

The steamed fish turned out to be the best dish of the day. With plenty of garlic and ginger, the fish simmers in a sourish and spicey soup base and being kept warm with slow burning charcoal. Don’t miss out on this dish if you go there. The tomyam was pretty good as well, not overly spicy, but with plenty of squid, prawns, and other seafood items.

The otak-otak, well, is not anything we would call otak-otak in a Malaysian sense. This dish is a mixture of seafood in the otak-otak “sauce”. With plenty of fish meat, prawn, and squid. It was very rich and satisfying though. The pandan chicken tasted as how they should be, and provided a good alternative to all the seafood dishes we ordered.

location map of de’ Chiengmai Thai Seafood Restaurant

The restaurant definately offers one of the best Thai food anywhere, and with the great atmosphere and reasonable pricing (RM 112.88 for all those). It is really hard to beat. Especially now that you know how to get there, there is no excuse not to give it a try.

Do order some vege dishes too (we probably should have), De Chiengmai grow their own vegetables so that all the vegetables are super fresh and of top quality.

Address:
De Chiengmai Thai Seafood
No 34, Kg. Sentosa, Bt. 13 Sg Buloh 47000
Sungai Buluh Selangor
GPS: 3.224241, 101.568655
Tel: 03-6156 3225

Tags:  de-chiengmai,  gareth,  pandan,  siakap,  sungai-buloh,  thai-food,  tomyam

Posted by KY | 34 Comments »

A friend introduced this tomyam place in Petaling Jaya old town to me. A “restaurant” that is set up by the compound of a corner house in the oldest area of PJ. We went there last weekend to give it a try.

gives you that homey feeling

Suan was supposed to join us, but after I spent about 10 minutes giving her directions, she said

“ah it’s too complicated for me, nevermind you guys go ahead”

So for 3 of us, we ordered a tomyam soup with fresh grouper meat, and a fried kangkong. The owner, who looked and sounds like a Thai, told me that she uses 10 ingredients for the soup and it’s all freshly cooked, per customer basis. No tomyam paste or any of those kinda instant stuff.

some serious hot and sour power

After waiting for about 20 minutes, the tomyam and the vege was ready. My god, the tomyam was seriously one of the best I’ve had. Better than Jimmy and Nong in Cheras, the flavour was really strong and the soup was thicker. If you can’t take it hot, you might want to order more drinks. We can’t stop ourselves from drinking the soup even after finishing our rice.

The grouper fish blends well with the tomyam soup, as you would expect from the not-so-cheap selection of seafood. If your wallet permits, they have some nice grouper head for tomyam fish head too (those can run more than RM 50 for the dish) . The kangkung was pretty good itself too.

so now you know how to go to PJ old town

The place serves tomyam only at night, I’ve heard they closes pretty early. There is a different operator in the afternoon that serves pretty decent food too, however.

Our meal costs about RM 50 for the three of us. A little pricey perhaps, but the fish was of very good quality and the tomyam was definately worth it. Will go there again.

For a satellite image of the place, click on this google map link

Address:
Intersection of Jalan Dispensary 38 and Jalan 2/23,
Petaling Jaya, Selangor
GPS: 3.086394, 101.645701

Tags:  horng,  old-town,  PJ,  thai-food,  tomyam

Posted by KY | 11 Comments »