A Thai Surprise

To break the habit, I was made to choose a place where Arlo and I will have our dinner before our scheduled screening of Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes. Since we usually enjoy Asian fares, I thought of trying Chef Choi or Jatujak; obviously, I chose Jatujak since I haven’t tried it before and it would be nice to try it out with my partner.

Thai food can be too spicy for the Filipino taste so the waiters ask us how they will prepare the dishes we chose. Arlo is not a big fan of spicy food so we specifically asked to go mild on the spices. For starters, we had the crunchy catfish and mango salad. I really enjoyed this dish because of the play on texture and flavour. The catfish meat was like pork floss that we had at Su Zhou Dim sum. The green mangos were cut like thin noodles and it gives the salad a sweet and sour taste. Nuts, red chilli and cilantro blended together this light salad that would whet your appetite.

If you haven’t had Tom Yum other than the cup noodles version. You’d be surprised with how much flavour there is in this soup than just salt and MSG. Leeks, galangal, cilantro were the prominent herbs and spices infused in this soup. Arlo mentioned his minimal tolerance for sour taste, too; however, he chose this dish. He loved it but I can see his tears well up his eyes as he sips the soup. The fish, squid and shrimp were cooked just right and complement the strong flavor of the consomme.

Red curry beef was good but it might have worked if the flavor was more intense. I have to say that beef was tender and the sauce has the right creaminess in it. It worked well with the other dish and the plain Jasmine rice we had with it.

Their service is good and the waiters were accommodating. The ambiance is very youthful and made Thai more pop than exotic. Presentation was made modern yet still has the home-cooked meal feel into it. We’ll surely be back to try their other dishes.