I've been sceptical about dining options at Mid Valley for a long time so it was with utter delight when I read Durianberry's blog post on Rak Thai. I'm a recent clear tomyum soup convert, having only known its reddish fiery counterpart most part of my underexplored adult life. So it was with a full stomach of anticipation when time came for me to suggest where to lunch one day away from the work desk - Rak Thai it was!
I had to have the clear tomyum but I didn't much feel like rice so I asked for koay teow in tomyum gai (chicken) instead. It was just as I'd imagined - sour and spicy and everything nice! I can imagine having this everyday, as a midday pick-me-up and going back to work full of fire!
My friend ordered the deep fried chicken which came drenched in very sweet Thai chilli sauce and a side of glass noodle salad. He seemed rather pleased with it, though from the looks of it, it'd probably not be on my hit list
One meal just didn't quite cut it for me as a dining experience so when Fat Tulip came to visit a few days later, I suggested stopping there for dinner.
We started with the customary som tum to start, which arrived shortly after we ordered. It was fresh enough but we found the dressing a tad too sweet..
We decided to share our individual meals so we'd get variety. He got the Green Curry Chicken with rice which came with a too-small portion of flavoured rice (Fat Tulip is carbo king) and slices of chicken breast swimming in a thick, nutty green curry with a disturbing amount of oil on the surface. Chilli Corner's green curry remains the undisputed champ, in my books.
We decided to share our individual meals so we'd get variety. He got the Green Curry Chicken with rice which came with a too-small portion of flavoured rice (Fat Tulip is carbo king) and slices of chicken breast swimming in a thick, nutty green curry with a disturbing amount of oil on the surface. Chilli Corner's green curry remains the undisputed champ, in my books.
Same treatment went with my seafood red curry koay teow, which, while lovely and filling enough, was too heavy for my liking. I just feel the balance in the heavier curries was a bit off.My experience with the clear tomyum was pleasant enough but the second meal left much to be desired. I suppose selected items from the menu fare better than the rest but to validate that, I would have to go back for at least one more meal... you know what they say, third time's the charm!
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4 comments:
my sympathy for the mediocre 2nd visit. the curry kuey teow do look a tad oily.
I never had koay teow in clear tomyum soup before. I like your idea and will be trying it on my next Thai food outing...
Curry koeay teow a bit oily hor? I think portion of the oil is from the koey teow.
I came to dine here last night, after much indecision as to what to have (go back to reliable Dragon-i, and guarantee a reasonably satisfying dinner, or try something new, which given that this was a Mall, I was extremely skeptical of). Well, guess what? I was right to be skeptical. The food at Rak Thai was beyond horrible, and expensive given what it was! I ordered the tom yum soup in a coconut and the basil chicken. First the soup. The picture showed a coconut overflowing with large prawns ... don't be fooled. I could not taste any coconut milk at all. All I could taste was sugar, salt and MSG. I kid you not. There were not spices whatsoever, the lemongrass looked like it was thrown in at the end of microwaving the soup instead of being infused through boiling. The chicked came out looking like something they dug out of the garbage out back and tasted accordingly horrible. To add insult to injury, I left hungry, had already spent my dinner quota money for the night, and spent the whole night hungry and my liver working overtime trying to expel whatever non-sense it was that got in to my system. This is a real pity. I was beginning to believe that international cuisine in Malaysia doesn't just go downhill after the first few months of opening, but I guess I was wrong. What is it that causes these restaurants to get lazy after a few months? Expensive ingredients? I believe that perhaps the Malaysian taste is in part to blame. The chefs start to cater to low standards to remain open. Oh, and I missed the Thai iced tea -- which tasted bland and totally cheap.
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