[Kuala Lumpur] Dinner at Gai by Darren Chin, TTDI

klyeoh · January 27, 2025, 4:12am

Taman Tun Dr Ismail or TTDI is an upmarket Malay suburb in the outskirts of KL, known for its proliferation of eateries, including Michelin-listed ones. TTDI’s often regarded as a veritable test-bed for the dining trends and tastes of KL’s affluent upper-middle-class Malay-Muslim market. What works in TTDI for this market can then be replicated in the rest of Kuala Lumpur.

One of the shining stars in this burgeoning dining precinct has to be Michelin-selected Thai eatery, Gai by Darren Chin, which is co-owned by Darren Chin of 1-Michelin star DC by Darren Chin and his Chiang Mai-born wife, Khun Pachsita “Nana” Kitikornchalowemwong. Opened in April 2022, Gai by Darren Chin (“gai” means “chicken” in Thai) has just recently opened a more casual noodle eatery - Gai Express - on the ground floor of its 2-storey location. The two eateries operate separately, but we were able to cross-order from Gai Express’ its signature khao soi (Northern Thai curried noodles) when we were dining at sister-outlet Gai by Darren Chin last weekend.

Gai Express offers two versions - the more common chicken one, and a more complex-flavored beef version, which we opted for.

Darren Chin himself was manning the kitchen, and he produced an absolutely amazing rendition - with its multi-layered flavors and perfectly textured meat and noodles.

We’d started off our meal with some 𝘮𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘨 𝘬𝘩𝘢𝘮 (wild betel leaf) wraps. Rama V Thai restaurant in Jalan Ampang was the first to introduce this dish to KL-lites back in 1995. Now, every Thai restaurant in town has to have it on their menu. Fabulous version here.

One of the must-haves here is their Thai iced milk tea (Thai: ชาเย็น / 𝘤𝘩𝘢 𝘺𝘦𝘯) - milky, fragrant and sweet.

Gai tod Hat Yai - 𝘚𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘯-𝘴𝘵𝘺𝘭𝘦 (city of 𝘏𝘢𝘵 𝘠𝘢𝘪) 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘯.

The signature crabmeat fried rice (Thai: ข้าวผัดปู /𝘬𝘩𝘢𝘰 𝘱𝘢𝘥 𝘱𝘶) here is simply must-order - wok-hei and full of flavours. Absolutely delicious.

Accompanying crabmeat omelette was fluffy and delicious.

Desserts:
Thai pandan-flavored custard with coconut cream:

Red rubies dessert (Thai: ทับทิมกรอบ/𝘵𝘶𝘣 𝘵𝘪𝘮 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘣)

Mango with sticky rice (Thai: ข้าวเหนียวมะม่วง / 𝘬𝘩𝘢𝘰 𝘯𝘪𝘦𝘸 𝘮𝘢 𝘮𝘶𝘢𝘯𝘨)

Absolutely fantastic meal. Wished I live in KL, so I can come here more often.

Address
Gai by Darren Chin
1st Floor, 26A, Lorong Datuk Sulaiman 1, Taman Tun Dr Ismail, 60000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Tel: +603-7732 4406
Operating hours: 12noon-3pm, 6pm-11pm Tue to Sun. Closed on Mondays.

Gai Express
Ground Floor, 26, Lorong Datuk Sulaiman 1, Taman Tun Dr Ismail, 60000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Tel: +60377324406
Operating hours: 12 noon - 7pm, Tue to Sun. Closed on Mondays.

Google_Gourmet · January 27, 2025, 4:23am

Starting to feel the same way.

We’re halfway to your town now. A KL vender told us that food in Penang is even better and cheaper! Hard to believe on either count.

We’ll see for ourselves in a couple hours.

klyeoh · January 27, 2025, 5:16am

Welcome to Penang! Penang expects 2.4 million cars to enter the island during the Chinese New Year period. Good Lawd!

Well, Penang IS the food capital of Malaysia, and far outshines KL in terms of street food. KL, of course, trumps Penang when it comes to fine dining and good restaurants & food courts. KL folks, Singaporeans, and Malaysians from all other states come to Penang just to eat!

KL does Cantonese better than Penang (which is majority Hokkien/Fujianese), so I go to KL for its dim sum, wantan noodles and Cantonese-style roast meats (char siu, siu yoke, etc.)
Penang does everything else better.

Look forward to seeing you when you’re in town.

Google_Gourmet · January 27, 2025, 5:24am

YAY!!! We will capitalize!!!

Until we arrive…. A piece of Gai to tide us over. Thanks in advance for sharing your wealth of knowledge with us noobs.

klyeoh · January 27, 2025, 5:32am

You should pop over to George Town on the island whenever you can. That’s where all the action is!
The evening hawker stalls at Chulia Street should still be operating this evening. They all shut down tomorrow evening for Chinese New Year Eve.

Google_Gourmet · January 27, 2025, 5:37am

Might just do that. Grab the best option?

klyeoh · January 27, 2025, 5:38am

Yes, always use Grab. May need a bit of wait -time since this is the peak holiday season now and the city is full of visitors!

PedroPero · January 27, 2025, 12:22pm

How re you transiting between cities, trains, planes, automobiles?

Google_Gourmet · January 27, 2025, 10:12pm

Flew into KUL (kuala Lumpur) via SIN.

Grab’d (Uber of Asia) to our hotel. 40 minutes from airport to hotel. 80RM (~usd$20) including toll.

Walked about 20k steps per day. Summon Grab as needed (like 2~4 times per day) A 15 minute Grab as low as a mere usd$2.50.

4 hour bus ride from KL to Penang in a comfortable bus with almost lay-flat seats, usd$12.57.

Got off at the wrong stop. OOPS!! My Malay ain’t all dat good.

30 minutes Grab across the bridge to our hotel, another $12.50.

We might take the ferry to Georgetown today.

PedroPero · January 27, 2025, 10:28pm

Noice! So reasonable

klyeoh · May 6, 2025, 1:38pm

Back to Gai by Darren Chin for a casual Friday lunch with an enthusiastic gaggle of KL foodie friends. Chef-Patron, Darren, himself came out for a quick chat with us.

Our lunch spread included:
Miang kham - these bite-sized canapes are wild betel leaf wraps, with toasted, shredded coconut, peanuts, cashew nuts, dried shrimp, lime, galangal, bird’s-eye chilis and purple shallots. The accompanying sauce is a thick, sludgy dark palm sugar sauce, cooked with crushed galangal, ginger, fish sauce, shrimp paste, and lemongrass. Absolutely addictive - I could sit and eat copious amounts of these the whole afternoon, but restricted myself to just one.

Tom yum soup with seafood - perhaps the most common Thai food export: spicy, sour seafood soup, subtly flavored with lemongrass and galangal. The version here was subtle and light, unlike the rustic, robust versions one gets in other run-of-the-mill Thai eateries.

Crispy chicken skin - a side-dish which provided an interesting, crunchy textural addition to our lunch spread. It came with two dips - the usual spicy-sweet red chili dip, and the nam jim sauce which consisted of chilis, garlic, cilantro, fish sauce and lime juice.

Fried fish with green mango salad - the ever-popular yum pla dook foo - crispy, fish floss-cake, sitting atop shredded green mango salad, garnished with purple shallots, toasted cashews, sliced red chilis and fresh cilantro leaves.

Fried baby shrimp cracker with seafood nam jim sauce - truth be told, we were a bit disappointed when served with this dish. Delicious as it was, the appearance and texture of the dish was a bit too similar to the previous fish floss cake.

Fried squid with garlic - stir-fried squid, tossed with golden-fried garlic crumbs and chopped scallions.

Jumbo lump crabmeat omelette with duck’s eggs - this was the most decadent omelette ever: generous amounts of lump crab-meat in runny duck’s eggs, lightly seasoned and delicately cooked. Sheer deliciousness.

Southern Thai yellow curry with freshwater prawns - this was the piece de resistance for our lunch that afternoon: an absolutely, beautifully spiced dish, utterly addictive.

Pan-fried seabass - whole fried fish, topped with a light pomelo salad.

Phanaeng red curry with Wagyu beef - another winner here: sweet, savory, spiced gravy which complemented the tender Wagyu sirloin cuts perfectly.

Desserts
Coconut jelly

Tub tim krob (Thai red rubies dessert)

Kanom piakpoon - pandan custard with coconut creme

Thoroughly enjoyable meal.

TheLibrarian28 · May 6, 2025, 4:14pm

Wow - everything looks wonderful!

klyeoh · May 6, 2025, 4:23pm

Well and truly Thai cooking at another level altogether. Darren carefully constructs his ingredients to provide different layers of flavors that hit one’s palate successively, one after another.