I was a frog in a coconut shell many years ago. I thought Tom Yam is the name of chinese owner of a restaurant. Tom is the English name and Yam is the surname. Needless to say, I was the laughing stock for a while to my friends because of this. Prior to this incident, little innocent me had no experience whatsoever with Thai cuisine and would avoid spicy food to the best I could. That changed when I moved from hometown to big city Kuala Lumpur for further studies.
In the beginning, I just don't have a stomach for spicy food. I eat something spicy then I would surely get stomach upset as if the intestine turns upside down in my stomach making me feel very uncomfortable.
The situation went on for a few years and during those years, I was eating chinese non-spicy food only. One day, I got so fed up and I started to explore other cuisines. I tasted Malay cuisine and despite the spiciness, I like it! My stomach did not take it well. From that point of time onwards, I took one step at a time: I started with a little spicy until my stomach get used to it then I added on a little bit more spicy, and then a little bit more and so on. Now, I would say that I love spicy food and sometimes I just can't get enough of it.
Why I am telling you this little story here... I don't know. It comes out naturally or perhaps because I have a favourite Thai restaurant that I would like to tell you about.
A little bit history here and don't throw shoes at me. I know it is getting longer.
It happened one day many years ago, maybe 2 to 3 years back, I went with my girl friend to Tak Fuk restaurant in Kepong which is famous for its salted eggs / butter & cheese crabs. The shop was, unfortunately, closed on that day therefore we ended up looking around for other restaurant. Walking down the same row of shop towards the end, we noticed a Thai restaurant across the road and it was not noticeable at all because the signage was not well-lit and not many people were dining in there at that time. Anyway, I could read the name of the shop from where I was standing: Chiang Rai Style Restaurant. We walked across and decided to have our dinner there.
That is one hell of discovery and up until today, I still patronize that restaurant on and off whenever I crave for Thai food.
Okay, history class is over. Me and my girl friend have recently visited the restaurant so these photos are quite new.
As far as I can tell, the shop hasn't changed much over the years. Same posters / pictures / wall decorations. Two big aquariums on the left and right side of the restaurant's entrance. The Thai music clips are constantly playing in the television.
There were a few tables of customer on that day.
I have one conclusion from many years of eating Thai food in various restaurants : Those 4 to 5-star Thai restaurants that charge you handsomely on food do not necessarily give you the value of your money. The taste is so-so and you don't feel like the money well spend. I had dined in one famous Thai restaurant and guess what, I was charged at about RM15.00 for a small bowl of Tom Yam Seafood soup and no it did not taste like heaven to me and the other dishes costed me about RM80.00 plus on my share and I was not blown away at all. There hasn't any Thai restaurant that really stands out in my memory except Chiang Rai Style Restaurant.
I would not say Chiang Rai Style Restaurant is the best out there but it certainly scores better in terms of quality and price in comparison to many Thai restaurants. When I am hunger, I remember Chiang Rai Style Restaurant.
Two glasses of chinese tea to go with our food. Let me warn you here that the food is generally spicy hot. Unless you are eating chili padi for living, whatever you order, tell the kitchen to go easy with the chili padi. Don't sprinkle chili padi over food like sprinkle salt.
Yummy yummy. The Tom Yam seafood soup. I never fail to order Tom Yam every time I eat there. This one here costs you RM7.00 and the soup is just superb. Very much to my liking. To me, this is the best Tom Yam soup in town. It is quite spicy and usually we will order a few rounds of drink to go with it.
Thai mango salad at RM6.00. If you don't eat chili padi like drinking water, it will take you sometime to pick them out from the salad. The mango was not crunchy this time.
Four pieces of Pandan Chicken at RM5.00. Well-marinated and fried to perfection. I just love it! It is troublesome to unwrap the pandan but this dish never fail to make me smile.
Pineapple fried rice at RM6.00. Here is one thing that I don't understand. Why usually the fried is rice put in the hollowed pineapple? Why they make you scoop from the hollowed pineapple? It scores point for presentation but the scooping is difficult sometimes from my personal bad experience. As long as it tastes like pineapple fried rice, it is good for me. You can keep your pineapple.
This one over here in the photo comes with chicken floss which enhances the taste of the fried rice. The best pineapple fried rice that I have tasted in town.
Vegetable at RM6.00. You know I know. No description needed.
There are other dishes which are equally tasty and affordable like boneless fried chicken, Thai style steamed fish, fried fishcake, and etc. If you are there with big group of people, try them out.
Total charge is RM31.00. Well, I still think that it is very reasonable. Happy me!
One thing that is disappointing for is that we did not get our free fruits. We used to get free sliced fruits at the end of our meal without fail but I guess with the operation cost on the way up, they just could not give away freely anymore.
The restaurant is next to OldTown white coffe.
There is another Thai Restaurant in Cheras which I like to tell you about. Wait till I have photos of that place and I will blog about it.
In the beginning, I just don't have a stomach for spicy food. I eat something spicy then I would surely get stomach upset as if the intestine turns upside down in my stomach making me feel very uncomfortable.
The situation went on for a few years and during those years, I was eating chinese non-spicy food only. One day, I got so fed up and I started to explore other cuisines. I tasted Malay cuisine and despite the spiciness, I like it! My stomach did not take it well. From that point of time onwards, I took one step at a time: I started with a little spicy until my stomach get used to it then I added on a little bit more spicy, and then a little bit more and so on. Now, I would say that I love spicy food and sometimes I just can't get enough of it.
Why I am telling you this little story here... I don't know. It comes out naturally or perhaps because I have a favourite Thai restaurant that I would like to tell you about.
A little bit history here and don't throw shoes at me. I know it is getting longer.
It happened one day many years ago, maybe 2 to 3 years back, I went with my girl friend to Tak Fuk restaurant in Kepong which is famous for its salted eggs / butter & cheese crabs. The shop was, unfortunately, closed on that day therefore we ended up looking around for other restaurant. Walking down the same row of shop towards the end, we noticed a Thai restaurant across the road and it was not noticeable at all because the signage was not well-lit and not many people were dining in there at that time. Anyway, I could read the name of the shop from where I was standing: Chiang Rai Style Restaurant. We walked across and decided to have our dinner there.
That is one hell of discovery and up until today, I still patronize that restaurant on and off whenever I crave for Thai food.
Okay, history class is over. Me and my girl friend have recently visited the restaurant so these photos are quite new.
As far as I can tell, the shop hasn't changed much over the years. Same posters / pictures / wall decorations. Two big aquariums on the left and right side of the restaurant's entrance. The Thai music clips are constantly playing in the television.
There were a few tables of customer on that day.
I have one conclusion from many years of eating Thai food in various restaurants : Those 4 to 5-star Thai restaurants that charge you handsomely on food do not necessarily give you the value of your money. The taste is so-so and you don't feel like the money well spend. I had dined in one famous Thai restaurant and guess what, I was charged at about RM15.00 for a small bowl of Tom Yam Seafood soup and no it did not taste like heaven to me and the other dishes costed me about RM80.00 plus on my share and I was not blown away at all. There hasn't any Thai restaurant that really stands out in my memory except Chiang Rai Style Restaurant.
I would not say Chiang Rai Style Restaurant is the best out there but it certainly scores better in terms of quality and price in comparison to many Thai restaurants. When I am hunger, I remember Chiang Rai Style Restaurant.
Two glasses of chinese tea to go with our food. Let me warn you here that the food is generally spicy hot. Unless you are eating chili padi for living, whatever you order, tell the kitchen to go easy with the chili padi. Don't sprinkle chili padi over food like sprinkle salt.
Yummy yummy. The Tom Yam seafood soup. I never fail to order Tom Yam every time I eat there. This one here costs you RM7.00 and the soup is just superb. Very much to my liking. To me, this is the best Tom Yam soup in town. It is quite spicy and usually we will order a few rounds of drink to go with it.
Thai mango salad at RM6.00. If you don't eat chili padi like drinking water, it will take you sometime to pick them out from the salad. The mango was not crunchy this time.
Four pieces of Pandan Chicken at RM5.00. Well-marinated and fried to perfection. I just love it! It is troublesome to unwrap the pandan but this dish never fail to make me smile.
Pineapple fried rice at RM6.00. Here is one thing that I don't understand. Why usually the fried is rice put in the hollowed pineapple? Why they make you scoop from the hollowed pineapple? It scores point for presentation but the scooping is difficult sometimes from my personal bad experience. As long as it tastes like pineapple fried rice, it is good for me. You can keep your pineapple.
This one over here in the photo comes with chicken floss which enhances the taste of the fried rice. The best pineapple fried rice that I have tasted in town.
Vegetable at RM6.00. You know I know. No description needed.
There are other dishes which are equally tasty and affordable like boneless fried chicken, Thai style steamed fish, fried fishcake, and etc. If you are there with big group of people, try them out.
Total charge is RM31.00. Well, I still think that it is very reasonable. Happy me!
One thing that is disappointing for is that we did not get our free fruits. We used to get free sliced fruits at the end of our meal without fail but I guess with the operation cost on the way up, they just could not give away freely anymore.
The restaurant is next to OldTown white coffe.
There is another Thai Restaurant in Cheras which I like to tell you about. Wait till I have photos of that place and I will blog about it.
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