Chang Thai (Bishan) | ThumbsForFood

For those staying around the north and looking for affordable and good Thai Food, here's a place that can be on your list! Chang Thai is a casual eatery nestled in Bishan. I got to know this place when my friend's friend invited me to go down to dine with them at this restaurant opened by her brother. 

Location wise, it is about 15 minutes walk from Bishan Interchange. Alternatively, you can take a bus  there as well. It's quite an inconspicuous restaurant lined beside a coffeeshop. 

Exterior of Chang Thai

Chang Thai consists of indoor and outdoor dining areas. The restaurant is simply decorated with warm lighting and patterned wallpapers. This place is quite casual and fuss-free. They have quite a huge seating capacity both inside and outside of the restaurant thus, quite suitable for families and large groups.

Interior of Chang Thai

We tried their Milk Green Tea and Thai Iced Milk Tea ($2.50 each). It was my first time seeing and trying Milk Green Tea. It was interesting in flavour, sort of like a tinge of jasmine in the drink infused with condensed milk. I felt that their Thai Iced Milk Tea was refreshing but, could do with a stronger tea aroma and less milk. Nevertheless, what is Thai Food without their drinks to complement?

Thai Milk Green Tea and Thai Iced Milk Tea

Another dish we tried is their Garlic Honey Chicken ($6 small; $8 for medium). For the price, I would say it is quite a generous portion. I felt that the dishes were generally quite a good portion for sharing. The Honey Chicken was  fried well and even. I felt the honey taste was appropriately sweet. I would love if it was a bit more tender and juicy as the meat was a tat bit dry.

Honey Chicken

The Green Curry Chicken ( $7 for small; $10 for medium) was good in my opinion! It was thick and rich. I guess the spices used in the curry made the curry especially aromatic and tasty. The Green Curry was served with chicken slices. They had this pea-like spice in the Green curry which does not taste good. Perhaps, some vegetables can be added into the dish to balance the meat in it.

Green Curry

We drank the Tom Yam Seafood Soup with chill paste ($7 for small; $10 for medium). They serve up clear base soup as well. The Tom Yam was really quite fragrant and good perhaps because of the ingredients they added to lift the flavour such as lemongrass and such. They added mushrooms and a generous serving of prawns and squid as well. I like that it was served piping hot and definitely whets the appetite!

Tom Yam Soup

The Prawn Cake ($6.80 for 3 pieces; $2 for additional piece) was one of my favourite dishes! The outside of it was crisp and golden brown while the insides had succulent prawn bits in it. I feel that it is quite tasty on it's own and don't really need to dip it into the sauce. Would love to try their fish cake next time round!

Prawn cake with Dip

Pad Thai ($6 for small; $9 for medium is another favourite amongst Thai Food lovers. I feel the Pad Thai here is quite authentic in flavour. Mix in the crushed nuts and chill flakes into this dish to get its full flavour. For those craving for some pad thai, do try this dish out at Chang Thai!

Pad Thai

Overall, the dining experience was quite positive. The food was served up quite fast and piping hot! Prices are also quite reasonable with no GST and Service Charge! I'm glad that there is a place for Thai food lovers in the north to visit and satisfy their Thai food cravings. We would like to extend thanks to the owner of Chang Thai for our meal. :)

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Chang Thai
Blk 151 Bishan Street 11
#01-195 S(570151)

Operating hours are:

Sun - Thu: 

11am to 2.30pm

5.30pm to 10pm

Fri - Sat:

11am to 2.30pm

5.30pm to 10.30pm

Contact: 9060 1038


Cheers,
Y

Nakhon Kitchen (Kovan) | ThumbsForFood

I am sure all Thai food lovers would have heard of Nakhon Kitchen. Yes, we couldn’t believe that we haven’t done a review on this place yet especially when we have visited this place more than 5 or more times!

There are two branches of Nakhon currently- one in Kovan (the first branch) and one in Bedok North. We have been visiting Nakhon at its Kovan branch since it first opened. Since we have not tried all the Thai food in Singapore, it is difficult to conclude that it’s the best. But, it is definitely our top favorite from what we’ve tasted.

As you can see from the photo below, Nakhon Kitchen can be found under the block of flats. In Bedok, it is also similarly situated under a block of flats in a corner of the neighborhood. There is no air-conditioning but, with the fans around and the open concept of the place, it is quite cooling. I wouldn’t mind the bustling environment at all considering that they don’t charge us for GST and Service Charge!

Interior of Nakhon

A must-order is the Thai Iced Milk Tea ($3). Thai Black tea infused with condensed milk makes the drink really good. It’s different from the Milk Tea you get from bubble tea shops. Do try it if you have never had a cup of Thai Iced Milk Tea; take caution in craving for more!

Thai Iced Milk Tea 

Plain white rice is definitely necessary to go with Tom Yum, Green Curry and your dishes.

Plain Rice

The Stir Fried Kang Kong Belachan ($6) is another dish we would always order. We can’t do without vegetables in a meal and what better choice than to order something spicy and tasty? What we love about their Kang Kong is that it is well-cooked and the belachan flavor is consistent throughout the dish,

Kang Kong with Belachan

Tom Yum Soup ($6) comes in either clear or thick base (with coconut milk). We have tried both. I guess for those who prefer the pure tom yum flavor with a spicier kick, pick clear base! The coconut milk sort of neutralizes the spiciness of the tom yum soup. Personally, I prefer thick base.

Tom Yum Soup (Thick Base)

Stir-fried Mince Pork with hot basil leaves ($6) is a simple dish that appeals to us because of his tasty flavor. Besides its spiciness, it gives off a nice basil fragrance that’s not too overpowering. So for those who don’t really like basil, no harm trying!

Stir-fried Mince Pork with hot basil leaves

Phad Thai Noodles ($5) is a stir-fried rice noodle dish that is commonly served as a street food in Thailand. We feel that the Phad Thai in Nakhon is not as alluring and fantastic as the other dishes. But, it does satisfy our cravings for a plate of Phad Thai without needing to fly to Thailand for one. Please do let us know if you chance upon delicious Phad Thai in Singapore!

Phad Thai

Homemade Thai Fish Cake (4 pieces for $6) is my personal favorite! It is especially so when it is served hot and fresh. It is less spicy than Otah and the spices that they add into it makes it really good!

Homemade Thai Fish Cake

Stir fried prawn with Thai yellow curry powder ($12) is a really unique dish. I've personally not tried such a dish before. The thai yellow curry powder is a thick sauce that has a tinge of tamarind taste. Interesting dish though the flavor is not as strong as I had expected.

Stir fried prawn with Thai Yellow Curry Powder

Nakhon;s Asparagus with prawns ($6) is done really well. This is especially so when I am a fan of asparagus be it the thick larger ones as well as the smaller thinner ones like those seen below. The combination of garlic, mushrooms and prawns combined with their gravy that has oyster sauce is perfect. I can finish the whole plate by myself!

Asparagus with prawns

In a nutshell, we really like the food in Nakhon. The portion of the dish is on the small side so we tend to order many dishes to share. If you have never tried Nakhon, do give it a try! Be prepared that you might have to queue during dinner time! Drop a comment or email us to share with us your thoughts! :) 

Overall Rating: 8.5/10 

Nakhon Kitchen

212 Hougang Street 21 

#01-341 

Nearest MRT: Kovan MRT

Love, Y

Folks Collective's Soft Launch (China Square Central) | ThumbsForFood

Folk's collective is a new restaurant in China Square Central. It is opened by my Thai friend, Akira Monthienvichienchai whose dream is to set up his own restaurant. I was honored to be able to visit the restaurant during their opening. 

When you walk pass the restaurant, you will definitely be attracted by the restaurant's decor. It's interior is inspired from a vintage market in Bangkok. Hence, the mismatched furniture, vintage posters and reminiscent displays around the restaurant.  Do note that I was there for the soft launch and there are actually more dishes in the actual menu! 

I particularly like the medicinal hall drawers display that was fixed into the wall. We were wondering whether it was actually real drawers. And, yes! They are actually usable drawers that you can pull out the different compartments. 

Medicinal Hall Drawers

Interior of the shop

Vintage paintings on the wall

The food they serve are Thai food and some dishes are fusion of Thai and other cuisines. Let me introduce you the various dishes we tried! Prices of the dishes vary from $5 to about $20. I feel that the price is reasonable for the quality of food.  

The Green Curry Chicken ($8.90) can be seen below. For those who like green curry, I would say this is a must try. You can see that the bowl is overflowing with ingredients like brinjal, chicken and spices. This dish is not spicy, so, for those who can't take spicy food, try this. The coconut milk taste is not too overpowering so it suits my palate. This dish goes really well with rice!

Green Curry (kaeng khiao wan)

We were given free flow lemongrass tea ($3.20) that day as their opening special. But, we couldn't help it but order our own cup of Thai Milk Iced Tea! It's $3.90 for a cup. The cup is specially purchased to go with the restaurant's theme. The Thai Milk Iced tea is really refreshing. As I am not a lemongrass fan, I would choose the milk tea over the lemongrass drink.

Thai Iced Milk Tea and Lemongrass Tea

The mini bucket of chicken drumsticks were free flow that day. On the actual menu, it would be sold at $6.90 per mini bucket. We liked the marinade and the sauce drizzled over the drums. A great appetizer to whet your appetites.

Bucket of mini drums

The dish below is cereal prawns ($18.90) fried with thai basil leaves. The prawns are fried well and since they are fresh, the shells don't stick to the meat. Having said that, I would definitely appreciate more cereal atop the prawns!

Cereal Prawns

Thai Style BBQ chicken (Gai Yang) was another dish on their mains. This dish is $14. I would say the price is reasonable for the portion of the meat. I would say this dish is less special than the rest but, if you're a fan of chicken do try this. Dip the chicken in the sauce served with it which will bring out the flavor of the meat.

Thai style BBQ chicken (Gai Yang)

The mango salad with soft shell crab is $12 and was recommended by Akira. I got to say the mango salad is really nice! The mango salad is not overly unripe and thus, not too sour. The soft shell crab was fried well and tasty.

Mango salad with soft shell crab

One of their fusion dishes is the one below. It is the Siam Spaghetti at $8.90. It is something like an Aglio Olio fried with basil leaves, chili and garlic. I would say the dish is really quite different. For me, I would say it's an innovative creation. As I am not a fan of basil, I guess I won't be choosing this dish next time.

Siam Spaghetti

What is Thai food without the fame Tom Yum Goong ($8.90)? They have the one that is plain based and the one with coconut milk. My preference is the plain-based one below. It is served with prawns, mushrooms, fish and spices. I think it's not too spicy. The flavor of the tom yum is really fragrant.

Tom Yum Goong

We tried 2 desserts on the menu that day! The desserts are priced below $10.

The Ice cream Kati ($4.90) is coconut icecream topped with some nuts. The base has sticky glutinous rice which suprisingly goes extremely well with the icecream. Even though I'm not a coconut fan, I love the dessert! Do try it if you're there.

Ice cream Kati- Coconut Ice Cream

Thai tea-infused brownie ($5.90) is the other dessert we tried. The thai tea flavor in the brownie is subtle but quite unique. Intriguing taste I would say!

If you're looking for a new Thai restaurant, do try out Folks Collective for their classic Thai dishes and innovative Thai fusion dishes! :) And you'll definitely enjoy the ambience and the decor that is carefully thought through by the owner of the shop! If you're curious as to why it's called Folks Collective, do ask the people there!

For those who are interested in cocktails, they do serve alcohol and unique cocktails priced below $20!

Folks Collective
20 Cross Street

China Square Central
#01-25
Singapore 048422

6536 6739
www.folkscollective.com

Love, Y

Aroy-Dee Thai Food | ThumbsForFood

Okay, it is not easy to find affordable and nice Thai food in town. So when I heard of Aroy-Dee, I knew I had to check it out. It is conveniently located near Peace Centre, very near to the Rochor Tau Huay. If you are at Dhoby Ghaut, it is just a 10 min walk away.

Dinner time on a Saturday was still okay. Packed but no queue. The decorations are simple and you can't ask for more for the price you are paying I guess! 

Phad Thai. This is a must-order in all Thai restaurants. This was okay, nothing special! 

Fried Calamari. Well, I think this was pretty nice. I like how the crispyness of the fried crust and of course, the squid was fresh!

Tom Yum Fried Rice. This is quite typical of any shop. If you need some rice for dinner and craving for some tomyum feel, this will be a good choice.

Chicken fried with Cashew Nut. I think this taste more like sweet and sour chicken. It is something suitable for people who do not take spicy food! But I think there are better and more authentic cashew nut chicken out there!

Well, our semi-feast for the night!

Overall, I would say there is nothing fabulous about Aroy-Dee Thai food. There are definitely better ones out there such as Nakhon Thai or even Ah Loy Thai. However, the location puts it at an advantage. I mean, where else can you get affordable and moderately nice Thai food? [:

Our ratings of Aroy-Dee: 6.5/10

Aroy-Dee Thai Food
91 Bencoolen Street
#01-12 Sunshine Plaza
Tel: 63368852

Love,

Z

Diandin Leluk Thai Restaurant (Golden Mile) | ThumbsForFood

Thai food is sumptuous because it's appetizing, spicy and is full of it's unique flavor. So, today, we're going to share with you on our take of Diandin Leluk, quite a popular Thai Restaurant located in Golden Mile. As Golden Mile is known for being "Little Thailand" in Singapore, there are also other restaurants there, so, look out for our other reviews in Golden Mile.

As we were there on a Saturday night, the place was flocked with people. Fortunately, Diandin Leluk had many tables and occupied quite a large area. We did not have to wait for long to be seated.

Restaurant's Exterior

We had 6 people and thus, was able to order a large variety of dishes. You can choose the portion - Small, Medium, Large, depending on the number of people and depending on your appetite. It is a bit like a Chinese Tzi Char Style. All in all, we spent $25 per person. I can't remember how each dish cost though because I was too hungry to take note of the price.

Firstly, we ordered a medium-portion Pineapple Fried Rice. Really, nothing special about it. Rather disappointing actually. There wasn't much ingredients in the fried rice and it didn't really have an aromatic Pineapple taste. I'd rather opt for plain rice in future.

Pineapple Fried Rice

Green Curry we ordered small portion. If I'm not wrong it costs $10. The portion is really quite small. The green curry taste is not very different from other green curries I tried at other restaurants. They had chicken with the green curry. Not a spicy dish, so, suitable for people who can't take spicy food.

Green Curry

Prawn Cake and Fish Cake were chosen as they are must-haves for us in a Thai meal. I think the two dishes are really not fantastic. If given a choice, prawn cake would be more unique since I have not eaten it before. The fish cake pales in comparison to the ones sold in Nakhon (another thai restaurant; look out for reviews).



Prawn Cake

Fish Cake

What's a Thai meal without Tom Yam? The Tom Yam here is very disappointing! It is too sweet and sour rather than spicy. The sweetness kind of taste artificial. The ingredients are also not very fresh. As we feel Tom Yam Soup is the heart of Thai Cuisisne, we don't think we will be back die to this disappointing dish.

Tom Yam Soup

We ordered the Steam Fish as recommended by the manager of the shop. The steam fish looks good, appearance-wise. However, taste-wise, there is no sweetness of the fish indicating that the fish is not very fresh and tasty. For a recommended dish, we find that it doesn't live up to it's name.

Steam Fish

Vegetable dishes are quite average as well. Nothing to rave about.

They serve Thai Iced Coffee and Thai Iced Tea.

Thai Iced Milk Tea

Thai Iced Coffee

Having high expectations of Diandin Leluk, we were quite disappointed by the quality and taste of the food. There wasn't a dish that was spicy even though it was supposed to be. There was no dish that we fell worth our travel down to Golden Mile.

They have a stall beside the restaurant which sells Thai Snacks and desserts such as Mango Glutinous Rice. Do give it a try if you're there!

Do look out for our review on Thai Steamboat in Golden Mile coming up soon!

Diandin Leluk Thai Restaurant
5001 Beach Road #01-67
Golden Mile Complex Singapore
Tel: +65 6293 5101

Our Ratings: 6/10

Till next time, Y