Penang’s Siamese community celebrates Songkran (Thai New Year) from 13-15 April this year. The Royal Thai Consulate-General in Penang has also chose Hin Bus Depot, George Town’s premier arts & cultural hub, for large-scale celebrations, with music and cultural performances.
But our choice for Songkran lunch on 13 April was at the relatively new The Thai, owned by talented Bangkok-born artist and chef, Pattrawadee Grace. Since it opened in mid-Jan, the place has become one of the busiest cafes in town.
Our lunch today:
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Thai green curry chicken with wintermelon, served with 𝘬𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘮 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯 (Thai rice vermicelli) - deliciously creamy, aromatic curry which paired perfectly with the moist rice vermicelli. The wintermelon, in place of aubergines and pea eggplants, gave the curry a gentler, creamier texture.
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Minced pork in coconut milk 𝘯𝘢𝘮 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘬 with selection of raw vegetables, 𝘤𝘩𝘢 𝘰𝘮 omelette and fried fish - the rich, creamy minced pork dish reminded me somewhat of the dip for khao tang na tang, one of my fave Thai dishes of all time.
It’s a lovely dip - but I don’t think it went well with the selection of raw vegetables (cucumbers, long beans, carrots, wing beans and aubergines), plus cha om omelette and fried fish. Those needed a much stronger-tasting dip to work.
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Corn 𝘴𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘶𝘮 with salted duck’s egg - very tasty and perfect balance of sweet-sour-salty-and-spicy. I’d have been totally impressed with this dish, except that I know La Moon in Kuala Lumpur has an even better rendition.
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Thai deep-fried pork belly with spicy-sour chili dip - very tasty, although I’ve have liked the golden-fried pork to be slightly crispier on the outside, in order to contrast with the fatty, moist meat below the exterior.
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Thai-style spicy seafood and basil pasta - like most of Pattrawadee Grace’s creations, it was full of flavour. She really has a talent for coming up with all the right combinations of spices and condiments.
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Selection of Thai desserts - there were three cups of rice flour pudding, enriched with coconut milk and with different flavours: rose, taro and corn.
There was also a sponge cake topped with sweet golden egg-threads (foi thong) - topped with thickened coconut creme, it was decadently good!
Pattrawadee Grace’s talent for giving traditional Thai food with unexpected twists here and there, but without compromising the traditional tastes, really made some of the dishes here true crowd-pleasers.
Address
The Thai • เดอะไทย Cafe and Restaurant
1, Jalan Sri Bahari, George Town, 10050 Penang, Malaysia
Tel: +6013-835 8948
Opening hours: 11am to 3pm, 5.30pm to 10pm, Tue to Sun. Closed on Mondays.
