[Day 4] Lunch At Secret Garden, Thai Cuisine And Bakery

Day four was rather a shopping spree where we do last minute shopping before catching our flight back to Singapore on the next morning.  So after our morning breakfast at hotel, we decided to go Central and Platinum Mall via the BTS before setting our lunch at Secret Garden Thai Cuisine which is located at Sathorn Road.

[Day 2] Health Land and Mahboonkrong (MBK)

After spending the whole morning at Chatuchak Weekend Market till almost 1.00pm, we decided to visit Health Land which is located near Asok Station (about 10 minutes walk) where we could pampered ourselves with Foot Reflexology And Body Massage to re-fill our energy level and continue the shopping spree. Furthermore, foot reflexology is one of the common spa services that tourists love and it could be easily found at most shopping malls, shops along the streets and even in their night/weekend bazaar too. And the face is it really cost much cheaper (around half the price or less) then what we usually paid in Singapore.

[Day 1] Exploring Asiatique, The Riverfront

[Continue from previous post] Upon arrived, check-in into our hotel and etc, we decided to head out to Siam Paragon for our dinner. Traveling there by BTS was pretty fast as it was only 3 stops away from Victory Monument station which is near our hotel.

After the meal, we deiced to visit Asiatique The Riverfront which is Bangkok's first large scale riverside night bazaar that filled with boutiques, eateries and etc.

[Day 1] Our Family Trip to Bangkok (BKK), Thailand

Sorry for this super "late" Bangkok (BKK) trip writeup which I have drag more than 6 months since December 2012 till now. And for friends and readers who have follow me on my Instagram or Facebook Page, you would probably know that we just had just returned from our awesome Taiwan trip last week. So in order to pen down as many memories as possible on our travel experiences for future reference, I need to first clear our BKK backlogs before I could start sharing something on our recent trip on Taiwan.

ThaiExpress 2013 New Revamp Menu

This year 2013, ThaiExpress has launching a new menu with over 130 items. The revamp menu aims to freshen up local diners' palate with new items inspired by authentic Thai dishes from different parts of Thailand. The new menu also highlights popular Thailand's street snacks, salad, noodles and etc which patrons will be able to satisfy their Thai cravings at a whole new level of dining while ThaiExpress reveals the hidden Thai delicacies to Singapore.

This new revamp menu is available at all 24 ThaiExpress outlets located islandwide.

Naam Ma Toom - Traditional Thai Herbal Drink @ S$6.20

For a start, I have a cup of this Naam Ma Toom which is a Traditional Thai Herbal Drink on their new revamp menu. This herbal drink is brew using Bael Fruit (巴埃尔) and it is considered as a health drink in Thailand. For your information this drink is supposed to be good for cleansing the stomach and helping digestion too. I love the refreshing and light after taste fragrance which resemble rose / fruity flavour.

Thai Chendol (Chilled) @ S$6.80

Khoa Tang Naa Tang @ S$7.90

I must have missed this popular Bangkok street food during my recent visit two months back. This Khoa Tang Naa Tang is served by placing some Creamy Chicken and Shrimp Sauce on top of the crispy Thai Rice Cracker.

Top Rice Cracker with Creamy Chicken Filling and eat it while hot.

Gai Op Pattaya @ S$9.90

Although I have not being to Pattaya before, but with the new revamp menu at ThaiExpress I am able to try their Gai Op Pattaya which is a Thai-style Roasted Chicken.  The roasted chicken drumstick is tender and juicy with a light lemongrass and herbs aroma which goes well with accompany soya dipping sauce and cucumber salad.

Kway Teow Lui Suan @ S$9.30

{MUST TRY} Kway Teow Lui Suan also known as Thai-style DIY Minced Chicken and Dry Kway Teow Salad is a great appetizer to start with. Although it might be a little messy when handling this salad dish (as you need to wrap up the minced meat filling using lettuce and rice noodle sheets) but with a few hands-on I am sure you would be able to do a great job on wrapping it too. Overall we love the taste of the flavoursome minced meat mixture which pairs well with the crunchy lettuce and soft rice sheet. Quite similar to the Vietnamese spring roll concept but with different fillings. 

Steps On How To Wrap Kway Teow Lui Suan

Kway Teow Sukhothai @ S$11.30

{MUST TRY} Kway Teow Sukhothai is one of the popular noodle dish from Sukhothai which is a province of Thailand. At first glance, you might have a perception like us that this bowl of noodle would be "extremely" spicy due to it's fiery red colour. But surprisingly it has an addictive taste that cross between sweet, spicy and sour which quite similar to our local Mee Siam.

Khao Tom Pla  @ S$9.30

For kids or someone who don't take spicy food, ThaiExpress's new revamp menu has introduce a new dish known as Khao Tom Pla which is a Thai-style Fish Porridge.  This fragrance porridge comes in generous portion that toppings with some fried garlic and Chinese coriander to enhance the taste. With that, there is also a special dipping sauce for the fish that taste like mixture of light soy sauce, fermented soybeans, grated ginger and etc.

Although this might not be the same fish porridge like those sold in the hawker center or foodcourt which use Mackerel or Grouper fish but for a chance, this is indeed something that taste good too.

Ta Kor S$6.80

Mun Cheam @ S$5.30

To complete the meal, we tried two of their new desserts which are Ta Kor and Mun Cheam. For those with sweet-tooth, Ta Kor which is a famous Thai fragrant pandan jelly with coconut custard and corn kernels would be a great choice for dessert.

 For me if to choose between the two desserts mentioned, I would go for Mun Cheam which is steamed sweet potato with coconut milk. Surprisingly this steamed sweet potato comes with a crunchy outer skin and firm texture when compared to the usual steamed potato which is soft. On top of that, Khao Niao Mamuang (sweet glutinous rice with fresh mango and coconut milk) and Thai Chendol are my favourite dessert from ThaiExpress too.

Lastly I would like to thank ThaiExpress and Chantel for hosting us on the tasting.

Flavour Of Thailand at PARKROYAL On Beach Road

I have missed out "Plaza Brasserie Crab Feast" in July due to some work commitment but you could read more over at Jacob (HERE) and ShiTing (HERE) posts. So when Karen invited me for the Flavour of Thailand I immediately agreed as I am a huge fan of Thai Cuisines (my Thai recipes HERE) and my favourites are the Thai Papaya Salad, Red/Green Curry, Basil Pork, Beef Noodles, Durian Dessert and etc.

From now till 31 October 2012, you can feast all the delicious Thai Cuisine and Desserts at Plaza Brasserie Flavour of Thailand buffet during dinner hours. Other than Thai Cuisine, they are still other international food on the buffet spread such as Sushi, Sashimi, Assorted Prata, Chicken Rice, Oysters and etc.

For starter we have Thai Papaya Salad and Thai Glass Noodles Salad. If to compare both, I would prefer the crunchy Papaya Salad over the Glass Noodles as it has more combination of texture and taste from the green papaya, peanuts, tomato and chilli.

The Thai Glass Noodle Salad taste a bit bland perhaps some of the seasonings or sauce is missing as compared to those in the Thai restaurant where lot of fresh herbs like coriander is added together with Thai Lime juice and Fish Sauce to enhance the aroma and taste.

Thai Fish Cakes are a common street food in Thailand which are more flavorful when compared to most Western And Asian fish cake. The authentic Thai Fish Cakes are not battered as it allows fresh taste of the fish, spices, and herbs to combine together. Here at Plaza Brasserie, their Thai Fish Cakes are a bit different with breaded outer layer and deep-fried till crispy before serving with Thai-style Chilli Sauce.

Although this Thai Beef Noodle Soup is quiet popular among those who have tried it that evening, but some of us felt that if the beef slices could be slightly thinner and tender it would prefer this dish. But on top of it the soup broth is rich and flavorsome and it makes a few of us run back for second helping too. 

{MUST TRY} Thai Red Curry With Roast Duck is my favourite dish among all that were served that night. The curry is tasty and flavorsome without too much of coconut milk taste and it goes well with the vegetables and roast duck.

Stir Fried Kai Lan in Thai Style is one of the well-like dishes among those who are sited around our table. The Kai Lan is crunchy and tasty even with just some carrot and mushrooms.

Stir-fried Minced Pork in Thai Style is rather bland towards my liking as I feel it could be better if more basil leaves are added to bring up it's unique aroma and perhaps less watery for the sauce so that the minced pork can adsorb the flavour of the seasonings.

{MUST TRY} This Steamed Fish With Spicy Thai Lime And Chilli is one of my favourite dish which is 2nd in line after the Thai Red Duck Curry.  The tangy and spicy sauce blend well with the freshness of the fish and it makes you can't stop with just one or two helping instead you would want to hide in one corner and finished up the whole fish by yourself.

For your information, during Monday to Thursday, Chef Jackson Goh will be preparing your favourite fishes in one of various styles which includes Spicy Thai Lime and Chilli, Thai Green Curry, Thai Red Curry or Basil in Coconut Cream.

{MUST TRY} When it comes to Thai Desserts, Steamed Glutinous Rice with either Durian or Mango is always my first choice that comes to my mind when ordering dessert. And I have being eying this Steamed Glutinous Rice with Durian the moment I spot it at the dessert counter.

If you are a Thai dessert and Durian lover, I would recommend you to try this. The glutinous rice is well-cook with the right texture which is not too soft and the durian pulps are from good quality of Durians.

God is good to let me enjoy my two favourite Thai dessert one after another. Above shows the Candied Tapioca With Coconut Milk where the tapioca is cooked thoroughly with sugar till soften and served with coconut milk. Although some parts of the tapioca are not very well-cooked but overall it still taste delicious with some coconut milk over it. 

Flavours of Thai at PARKROYAL on Beach Road
5 September to 31 October 2012

Plaza Brasserie
7500A Beach Road
Singapore 199591
Reservation: +65 6505 5710
Website: Flavour Of Thai Buffet

Dinner (Mondays to Thursdays): Adult $52++, Child $31++
Dinner (Fridays to Sundays): Adult $55++ Child $33++

CP Ready Meals In 5 Minutes

Even though I might appear to be cooking often over at my recipe blog, I do have time where I just wanted to have some quick and easy meal while enjoying ME TIME watching my favourite TV programs or etc. Hence in order to have some ready meals that resemble home-style cooking, often I would pick up a few varieties of CP Ready Meal from the supermarkets.

As we know, CP ready Meal is with no preservatives added and they are ready for consumption just by simply popping the package into the microwave and cook for about 4 - 5 minutes. So for a chance from the usual hawker food, sometime we do enjoy having this quick dish especially during raining day or supper time.

CP READY MEALS

This is the new CP Chicken Green Curry With Rice which Thai food lover can now enjoy their favourite green curry anytime of the day with minimal fuss. This dish is prepared in an authentic home-cooked style with generous chunks of tender chicken meat, eggplants and fragrant Jasmine rice.

Although this "ready meal" cannot be compared with served in Thai restaurant but for the retail price at S$4.50, this could be something that you would like to stock-up in freezer for a hearty quick lunch/supper.

(Serves: 1 | Preparation: 30 seconds | Cooking: 4-5 minutes)

Cooking Instructions:
1. Remove the outer wrapper before reheating.

2. Using a fork, pierce the clear film on the food container for 3 - 4 times.

3. Cook in microwave for 3.5 minutes at 1,300 watt or 5 minutes at 800 watt.

Note:-

~ You do not need to defrost item before cooking.

If you prefer noodles than rice, perhaps you can try their hearty spaghetti. CP Spaghetti with Chicken Sauce will satisfy your palate with delicious al dente spaghetti enriched with flavorsome tomato-based sauce which includes lean minced chicken. I love the way it separate the sauce and noodles so as the texture of the noodles would not be affected by the sauce and we also can mix in the sauce base on our preference.

Other than this two new products mentioned above, there is also "Teriyaki Chicken with Rice" and "Stir-fried Chicken and Basil with Rice" all available at major supermarkets, Cheers or 7-11 outlets.

Thai Express @ North Point

Thai Express is a chain of restaurants serving Thai cuisine in Singapore and its' first restaurant was opened in Holland Village, Singapore in May 2002. Now they have outlets spreading out in different parts of Singapore as well as Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia and etc. And sometime back during one of the lunchtime, we decided to try out their "Sa-nook" which is also known as "fun" set that comes in either Tom Yum Soup, Thai Green Curry or Pineapple Fried Rice together with 1 side dish and a dessert.

Out of the 3 choices, we settle for their "Sa-nook Seafood Pineapple Fried Rice" set that comes with a plate of seafood pineapple fried rice, deep-fried tofu square as appetiser and steamed tapioca with coconut cream as dessert. Overall for the price that we are paying this is still a very economic lunch set that is among the patrons. Worth trying one of these set for lunch if you are craving for some Thai food.
Price: S$8.90 per set (including 1 main, 1 appetiser and 1 dessert)

Other than the Sa-nook set, we also ordered a bowl of their "must try" Thai Laksa with Crayfish in Jade-green Gravy. Personally we find there isn't much ingredients in the bowl except for 1 Crayfish that is spilt into half length wise and a few pieces of Thai eggplant and pineapple. Nothing too fancy about this Laksa dish perhaps should go for the Seafood Laksa or Thai Green Curry instead.
Price: S$13.90 per plate

Here I was attracted to their irresistibly Thai Chendol with slices of Jackfruit, colourful strains of chendol and red rubies in a sea of rich coconut milk served together with generous drizzle of Thai palm sugar. The aroma of the jackfruit and palm sugar gives extra flavour to this drink and I love the fresh and crunchy red rubies that makes you keep popping some into your mouth.
Price: S$5.90 per cup

There are about 20 outlets spreading all around Singapore and you can find the locations and contacts HERE. I am sure with an outlet that is near to your area, trying one of their dishes is just a matter of time. So do share with us what is your opinion about their food and if you like their dishes, do recommend us your choices too.

Thai Express
930 Yishun Avenue 2
#02-55/56/57
Northpoint Shopping Centre
Singapore 769098
Telephone: (65)6555 9112
Website: http://www.thaiexpress.com.sg/

Operating Hour:
Daily: 11.30am to 10.30pm; (Last Order at 10pm)

Porn's ~ The Charm of Sexy Thai Food

This is our 4th food gathering and each month we will venture a new restaurant together with our group of food lover friends. From the above photo, you can roughly make a guess on our what is our October theme.

Yes! You are right! Our October theme is the hot and spicy exotic Thai cuisines that used lots of fresh herbs and spices to enhance the aroma and taste of their dishes.

For your information Porn’s is opened by one of the MediaCorp’s most popular host, Pornsak Prajakwit who host the recent “Food Source - 食在好源头” (click HERE to watch) TV program that draws tremendous feedback from viewers. And according to some patrons, sometime you might be lucky to bump into Pornsak who will take and serve your orders in certain days too. The above photo shows the the translation of Porn on one side of the wall near the back siting area which mean "blessings" and "good wishes" to everyone who visit Porn's .

Bright and simple menu with black and blue prints descriptions, bundle up together with blue ribbon that gives the feeling of old school day scrapbook look.

If you think of adding some extra condiments to enhance the taste of your dish, you can feel free to choose from any of these 4 items that is provided on each table. These 4 complimented condiments are:- cut red chilli with light soya sauce, chilli flakes, crash peanuts and white sugar that are mostly used on fried rice or noodle dish.

Prawn Cakes (Tod Mun Goong) are usually one of the all times favorite appetizers for both children and adults. The one serves at Porn’s has a very lovely golden breaded outer crust, moist and juicy minced prawns filling that goes well with their special Thai sweet and sour chili dipping sauce. Worth trying if you don’t wish to get yourself oily from all the deep-fry hassles in the kitchen.
Price: S$8.50 for 3 pieces


Guess most of us who frequent the Cze Char stalls would have tried at least once on their Egg Foo Yong. So even when we are at the Thai restaurant, Fried Omelette with prawn (Kai Jiew Goong) is also one of the items which most of us would like to try. I remember having good encounter with the Thai fried oyster omelette that I had during one of my trip to Bangkok which I can never forget the taste and fragrant of their fried omelette.

The one we ate at Porn’s was relatively small in serving and slightly more expensive compared to those from the Cze Char stall. Taste wise; nothing really special about this dish as I can’t really taste any fish sauce in it too. (or perhaps they didn’t add even add any to enhance the taste)
Price: S$7.90 per plate

I am sure for those of you who have being to Thailand would have tried this common foodcourt or street food dish which is known as “Minced pork with basil leaves” that is usually served with steam white rice. And this is always a must eat dish whenever my brother goes for his Bangkok trip.

Before ordering this “Fried Minced Pork With Basil Leaves (Kapow Moo)”, we have heard and read some bad reviews on this dish. As from the photo you can see that there is a pool of red chili oil that makes you feel spicy and greasy by the look of it. (the pool of oil is one of the bad comments from some patrons) Secondly, most of us agreed that the minced pork is rather too tiny and scattered which makes it look and taste like “salted turnips”. I remembered those we had in Bangkok has more fresh and lovely fragrant basil compared to the wilted and black strands shown above. I think unless you are those who prefer spicy gravy to go with their rice or else you would consider giving this a try.
Price: S$8.50 per plate


Out of all the dishes we have ordered, this Pineapple Fried Rice (Khao Pad Sapparod) has the most pleasant presentation where the pineapple rice is served in a hollowed out pineapple, sprinkled with generous amount of pork floss and cashew nuts. When you scooped out the rice, you can even find hidden treasures of small cubes of pineapple, raisin and shrimps hidden in between the grains of rice. Although this is not the best Pineapple Rice that most of us had but overall this is still acceptable if you would like to go for something mild in spices and sweet in taste.
Price: S$10.90 per serving

I always discourage people ordering Fried Rice at any restaurant or Cze Char stall because I find that it is simply too expensive to pay that amount just for Rice and Egg or maybe some extra small shrimps or so. The Thai Seafood Fried Rice (Khao Pad Talay) at Porn’s was just a rice bowl serving that consists less than 5 medium size shrimp, egg and a bit of frozen mixed vegetables. Nothing fancy about the taste and I would rather choose the Fish Roe Fried Rice from Café De Hong Kong (here) for the same price but with a definitely bigger serving for at 4 – 5 persons.
Price: S$9.90 per serving

Thai Green Curry (Gang Keaw Wan) is always one of the dish that I would ordered during our family eat out at our frequent Thai Restaurant. And since Alvin and Audrey are also keen to try out, we decided to get a bowl so that everyone can sample this special green curry that is different from our local curry.

When the Green Curry is served it gives out a very fragrant aroma, which we believed is from the Basil leaves and coconut gravy. We are all very excited to try this dish and most of us find the taste was rather good with the amount of coconut milk added. The bowl also consists of generous amount of chicken fillet, thai egg plants, and basil leaves. Overall we are quiet satisfy with the taste which blends well with the sweet and salty combination which I am sure it will goes well with a bowl or two of steam white rice where you can make full use of the curry gravy.
Price: S$10.90 per bowl; (steam white rice at S$1.00 per bowl)


We ordered one each of their Tom Yum Soup With Prawn (Tom Yum Goong) and Tom Yum Soup With Seafood (Tom Yum Talay) but for the price that we are paying we can’t really find a lot of ingredients compared to what is shown on the recent review at I-Weekly. We are kind of disappointed with the Seafood pot as it taste rather sour compare to the Prawn Pot and you don’t really find many seafood in it too. The most is a few slices of squid, straw mushrooms, tomatoes and a few shrimp.

Most of us prefer their Tom Yum Soup with Prawn which taste slightly better in terms of flavour but it has a bad setback as the soup taste really spicy and it covers most of the taste of the ingredients such as lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves and galangal. The only thing we taste is “SPICY” which leaves us having “burning” tongues. Maybe this is more suitable for those who loves hot and spicy soup or can consider order this during cold raining day.
Price: S$10.90 per bowl; S$12.90 per hot pot

These are some of the drinks that we ordered:

1. Freshly Brewed Thai Rosele & Lime (Nam Ga Jeab) @ S$3.90 (Red Drink)
2. Lemongrass Drink (Nam Takai) @ S$4.50 (light brown drink)
3. Homemade Barley @ S$3.00
4. Thai Ice Tea(Cha Yen) @ S$3.90 (orange drink behind)

If you like the taste of Milk Tea, you should try their Thai Ice Tea which has a colour similar to Carrot Juice(which we mistaken). This drink has a very special fragrant and the icy cold feeling that gust down your throat makes it prefect to go with their Tom Yum Soup.

For dessert the waitress recommends us this Sticky Rice With Mango (Khao Niaw Mamuang) as our preferred Red Ruby with Snow Ice is not available on that day. When the dessert came we were all surprised by it's setting. The glutinous rice is shaped into two small rice balls, which is served separately in a bowl with some black and white sesame seeds and coconut milk drizzle on it. We find the glutinous rice is kind of dry and chewy in texture compared to those soft and sticky types served in most Thai restaurant. And we also agreed that we would not pay for this pricing again for this quality of dessert.
Price: S$8.50 per serving

Despite of the slightly over pricing and small portion of dishes, Porn’s charm definitely can be justify with it’s daily never ending lines of customers dining or queuing at the restaurant just to sample their homecook Thai dishes. And according to the counter staff, reservation at Porn’s has being fully made for the next few months till mid December 2010.

Although this is NOT those “must try” restaurant with something really fancy but you if you want to know what charm it has to lure so many patrons perhaps you can always try your luck and drop-by their outlet and start queuing for a seat or two. A good way to avoid the crowds and secured a place is to go after peak hour meal time. For more reviews on this outing, you can read it from "miss tam chiak", "lobsterpaint" and "susan" blogpost.

Remark:
~ Overall our dining experience with Porn’s was fairly good. Although their dishes are not those with “WOW” factors but for a change in taste if you don’t mind spending slightly more there is no harm trying certain items on their menu.

BAD Experience:
~ I would like to highlight their service attitude, particular to one of their senior staff that kept asking us to place our order even though half of our friends have not arrived. And the way she asked us to place our order is like she kept coming back to our table at least 4 times within the 10 minutes with the same excuse as “please make your order fast to avoid the lunch crowds” with that kind of “black face”.

It makes us feel that she is trying to chase us for the orders so that we can eat and leave immediately without taking up the seats so that they can make more business. The way she handle this makes us feel very uneasy and annoyed that she is trying to be rude in serving customers. And when I ask her to introduce some signature dishes for us to try she can’t bother and ask us to take 2 each of the fried rice and pineapple rice instead of suggesting us to try different varieties of their rice and noodles dishes.

Lastly while helping us to take the group photographs, she even shows “faces” in front of us which reflects that she is very impatient with our act and delay. Hope she is just moody on that day and won’t treat other customers the same as what she had treated us. Or else soon or later she will either loose her job or Porn’s will loose valuable customers.

Porn’s
28 Liang Seah Street
Singapore 189049
Telephone: +65 6337 5535
Website: http://pornsexythaifood.blogspot.com/
Facebook Page: Porn's

Opening hours:
Mon-Sat: 12.00pm - 3.00pm, 6.00pm - 10.00pm
Sun: 6.00pm - 10.00pm