Northern Thai Opposite Jalan Besar Plaza

I have never been a real fan of Thai food, as for some reason, I have always found the heat in Thai food a tad too overpowering to really taste the subtlety of the flavors underneath.

Despite that, I do enjoy my sometimes foray into more high end thai cuisine at Renn Thai for the lovely fishcakes and green curry. But last week, I was treated to a really wonderful Thai meal in the most unlikeliest of places.

Situated in a rather run down coffeeshop opposite Jalan Besar Plaza, Northern Thai was not what I come to expect from Thai food. And to be frank, this was some of the best Thai cuisine I have tasted.

The boss is a rather friendly but shy elder statesman by the name of Ben. His stall was surprisingly fully packed with customers forming a permanent queue during lunch hour.

Diners are mostly well dressed executives braving the difficult parking situation and seemingly unfazed by the long queues. They must really enjoy the food here!

Thai Salad

We started off with this very appetizing Thai salad consisting of vermicelli, chilli, some squid with lots of lemongrass and lime. It was instantly refreshing and got us off to a brilliant start.

Pineapple Rice

The pineapple rice was typical of most Thai restaurants. Sweet, fragrant and some nice savory bits of ham, it was good, but did not border on great. I would have liked to have more fire in the frying process to have more smokiness in it, but still, it could not really be faulted as it was.

Chilli Kang Kong

The fried kang kong was really appealing, both in flavors and in looks. Just the right amount of heat and fried to perfection, the crunch of the kang kong was wonderfully textured.

Clear Seafood Tom Yam

The tom yam soups here were the highlight and this clear seafood broth was just brilliant. Not too overpowering, the flavors of the broth was beautiful and the fish slices were really fresh and sweet. I really enjoyed this bowl.

Milky Tom Yam with Deep Fried Fish

But the supreme highlight of the meal was this bowl of milky tom yam with deep fried fish. The batter was really excellent and went really well with succulence of the freshness of the fish. The soup was really flavorful and delicious! This will surely make one of the top dishes for the Silver Chef by the end of the year.

All in all, despite the location, the food was everything and everything was of a very high calibre. From the flavorsome tom yam soups, to the freshness of the fish on offer, this is a good sampling of what Northern Thai cuisine is about and I now know why there are such packed crowds everyday.

Northern Thai Restaurant (Tom Yam)
No. 1,3,5, Tyrwhitt Road