Take 2: Aroy Thai

I wrote about Aroy Thai's authentic Thai cusine before...I return to resample some of the delights and to taste their tanghoon prawns.

But first some starters...the stuffed chicken wings are very good as well...

Very crispyly deep fried, the skin is absolutely a delight. The chicken wing is deboned, the wing meat removed from the skin, minced with some herbs and spices and then stuffed back into the skin and deep fried. Marvellous.

As a vege dish, we had the Thai Kangkong

Nice and fresh, lightly cooked...so the leaves and stem is still crunchy. Nice.

And what we came to try...prawn tanghoon

Quite good, though not equal to the best I have eaten in Bangkok. Those had a layer of pork fat lining the steel kuali, so that as the dish is baked, the tanghoon does not get scalded and burnt. And of course, the pork fat releases wonderous aromas which permeate the dish. In this case, no pork lard, which might indicate that the dish was prepared and then put on the hot wok/hotplate to be served. The requisite herbs and plentiful peppercorns complete the authenticity. The prawns were large, a small serving had 4 prawns. They were fresh, crunchy. The tanghoon was quite good. Soft, with a bit of springiness...not too much to render it tough, but just enough to give the beautiful texture. Very nice. Recomendded.

I had always liked the cooking at Aroy Thai, and this tasting, proved no different. Great food.

Aroy Thai Restaurant
109 North Bridge Road
#04-06 Funan Digitalife Mall
6338 3880
Mon-Sun: 11.30am-2.45pm, 6pm-10pm
(Saturdays whole day, 930pm last order)

Nasi Padang at Hajjah Maimunah

Hajjah Maimunah is one of the cornerstones of Nasi Padang in Singapore. I have featured Sabar Menanti as well as Rumah Minang...two of my favourites...today's post is on Hajjah Maimunah, just a stone's throw from Kandahar where the other two outlets are...in Lorong Pisang.

Five of us ate one lunch time...the restaurant, rather large with an upstairs and downstairs air conditioned seating area. We were lunching on our cycling trip, so we sat outside to watch over our bikes, parked along the shophouse across the road.

On to the food...first the beef rendang

The spices were rather nice...but I found the beef too tough.

Fish with kichap manis

The fish was ok...I found it to be a bit bland. The kichap manis was nice, but not enough to smother the fish...as this was a black prompfret (bawal hitam), the meat was a bit rough, and rather tasteless.

Pegedil

For me, this was the highlight of the meal. The cutlet was tasty, if a bit dry, but eaten with a generous helping of the curry, it was excellent. Great taste.

We had a helping of siput, a kind of sea snails...

Not my favourite either...very mild tasting...and um, so little meat. The lunch companion who requested we order this seemed to enjoy it very much, finishing almost the whole plate all by herself.

The vegetables were no better

The kangkong was a bit old...tending on being a bit tough...and being slightly undercooked did not help.

The ladies fingers were even more bland...

But it was a shame to serve peanuts which were a bit stale...no crunch, no crisp.

A famous nasi padang restaurant, but one which I did not find commensurate with its reputation.

Hajjah Maimunah Restaurant
11 & 15 Jalan Pisang
6294 8732
7am to 8pm