Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Krua Thai at Kepong


So... to fulfill that Thai food hankering in our souls.. we had to venture into Kepong territory the following day.

Krua Thai!

Authentic Thai Food mainly focusing on the Northern Thai style of cooking ... and to support this notion, apparently the owner says that the cooking ingredients as well as the COOKS, are imported from Thailand! How cute.. :D


Amongst the signature dishes here (which I couldn't wait to dig into) was the RAW prawn (Sashimi style) with special sauce and Chabai Burung/Chili Padi (baby killer-cathartic chilies).

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Just look at the picture-perfect presentation! Another unexpected delight was the garnishing of bitter gourd that not only added a gorgeous color to the platter, but also lent an amazing taste to the prawn concoction.
The bitter gourd used was not overly bitter at all. Instead, it was crunchy, zesty and even a little sweet on the tastebuds. Really, really good.

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The raw prawns were flayed to perfection and drenched in that special fish sauce that took away any remnants of undesirable raw after taste. Don't you just love the way the Thais try to incorporate into their dishes, every sensory stimulation imaginable to the palate, such as sweet, bitter, salty, sour and spicy?
I do. I love it.

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Well executed I thought.. and eventhough I ate the whole plate by myself (Cumi is allergic to prawns), I didn't get the runs at all ;P

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The mango salad was a surprise too. Normally, my past experience eating this salad has me anticipating an overwhelming fish sauce and dry shrimp taste that obscures the other lighter tasting ingredients of this healthy salad.

Here at Krua Thai again, they exceed our expectations. The fish sauce is muted to perfection lending just a slight base taste to the salad. This allows the zesty mango, the crunchy peanuts, shrimp and even some lightly desiccated coconut taste to come shining through.

I didn't know such a simple dish could create so many pleasurable sensations in my mouth!
Excellent :D



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Moving on.. time for the slow burn.
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The Tomyam... have it as spicy as you like it (we had ours off the Spice-O-Meter), goes perfectly with individually steamed Thai rice (sweeter, stickier.. yummier than local rice). Wash away the burn with coconut juice.. and together with it, all your worries and cares of the world! lol

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For a change we tried the fried Thai Kwey Teow instead of the Pad Thai. This also was good with a nice 'wok hei' taste to it. The noodle seemed to have retained its springiness and I wondered to myself, how I was ever going to retain my waistline;P

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At Krua Thai, they have a good selection of Chili sauces as well, ranging from mild to fiery. On weekends they sometimes serve complimentary Thai desserts, so do swing by and try your luck.
We personally like the food at Krua Thai. It lives up to expectations.


Finally, EAT CHILI BURN FAT says one study... so on that happy note, we end this blog!


Read about what others have to say about Krua Thai:
mimi's dining room
blurryhunniee
as rich as croesus
kuan food fetish



Add:
Krua Thai,
39 Jalan Metro Perdana Barat 2,
Taman Usahawan Kepong,
Kepong Utara,
KL.
Tel:03-6250 8104


Food:7.5/10
Service:7/10
MSG levels: nil
Sugar levels: high
salt levels: moderate


27 comments:

fatboybakes said...

lahlink ah, considering cumi is allergic to prawns, that was a heck of a lot of prawns for one as slim as yourself!!!! is cumi allergic to the tom yam which had prawns too?

really ah? your description sounds fantastic, but i'm trying to envisage eating a platter of raw prawns....gosh, i am not as adventurous as i thought i was.

as usual, you do manage to find the MOST FASCINATING places.

HairyBerry said...

i passed by this place many, many, many times yet the front din catch my attention.

but with a dish like that prawn/bittergourd salad, wow! definitely worth a visit!

Julian Si said...

Food looks amazing, and photography has improved :-) once again!

Great write-up, espesh that bit on how Thais try to incorporate every sensory stimulation (!!) into their food ... I agree, I lived there for two years!

Nitezzz :-)

~Christine~Leng said...

i've once tried having seafood tomyam IN a Thai coconut shell and it was a bomb! yumz...

Ciki said...

fbb:
hahahahahahaha!
more for me i say! yea ALL by myself.

erm re the tomyam, cumi is ok with tomyam, just don't eat the prawns that's all.

don't try don't know.. just pretend you are in a Jap restaurant la.. eating sashimi.. hehe


nic:
yea, many more dishes to check out esp chef's recommendations!

jules:
aww... gee.. thx!


Christine:
thx for stopping by , and true..coconut tomyam is yummie whn done well :D

Anonymous said...

The name sounds familiar... wondering if it's the same place my friend's been raving about :)

Big Boys Oven said...

OH this is a must place, I just love hot and soicy thai food! :)

J2Kfm said...

cant imagine stomach-ing raw prawns!!! raw fish can lah...

oh so this is the Thai place you're mentioning? not bad. but Kepong?! too far lah..i'll be lost

thule a.k.a leo said...

well, if the prawns are fresh... I can wallop the entire dish myself too... lol! another great find... and I will go there this weekend to check it out :) Jenn loves tomyam...

Christina Kim said...

Whoa, spicy! My tongue's burning when I saw this:p

The raw prawns are not very tempting to me either!:(
Hehehe...I love prawns, when they are cooked...these felt too cruel...haha, ain't I contradicting myself:p

Kepong is indeed booming with all these eateries...there's lots more of hidden gems here!:)
You should dine more often in that area;)

Ciki said...

jason:
hehe.. maybe it is! worth checking out

bbo:
me too! if I am not CRYING by the end of the meal, it ain't great thai food.. hahaha:D

j2kfm:
yayayar! i left that comment on your post.. rite.. lol :D

thule:
cool.. make sure you ask for the free dessert.. lol

Christy:
lol, oh you kind soul! they have other 'well done' as in cooked stuff too:)

jasmine said...

oh my, this does sound perfectly tempting. am even considering driving down to kepong (unknown territory leh!) just to have the prawn sashimi. /drools

choi yen said...

raw prawns...hmm.... This really catch my attention when saw this on the menu, but really no guts to try :P

thule a.k.a leo said...

ask for free dessert?? hhahah... normally I expect them to serve without asking. So this time I will not say anything... see if they are willing to give or not.. lol!!!

vialentino said...

wah...i love thai food a lot...recently had one at bdr puteri puchong ....

LianneK said...

you´re so good at finding the best lubang for the best food :-) how you do that?

Ciki said...

jasmine:
at least you are with me on the raw prawn.. not many ppl like it that way

mimi:
no guts no glory.. mwahahaha

thule:
i hear ya! haha..

vialentino:
a thai fan huh.. good on ya

lianne:
hello! r u back in KL /were you back in KL for CNY?
long time no see!

Babe_KL said...

passed by here few times and each time there's a crowd in there. i've noted to try one day but looks like you're faster than me kekeke

Anonymous said...

looks good!! i can never imagine having bitter guard with prawns but i gotta try it!c

Anonymous said...

There's something to be said for understated tastes and simple dressings... and I think this round, you've found a place that has certainly mastered that! ;)

worldwindows said...

I have a morbid fear for raw food prepared in Asian kitchens except Japanese. You must have an iron stomach. Not sure if this dish is Northern but the rest is more Central. Looks like the prawn are fresh and prepared hygienically. I should try.

Ciki said...

ww:
lol..well, i survived... so.. should have been pretty clean the raw prawns!

backStreetGluttons said...

We luv Thai Dishes ( cannot believe they are so sexy with lip hugging touchy ooomphs ! )
hot sour spicy hot hotter,hottess !
of course we gain weight there in the day but lose weight in da long nights , chili hot as you say they are...

Ciki said...

bsg:
uh huh!

Tummythoz said...

Ooooh d seat beside cumi must be in demand! Allergic to prawns? I should get more of such eating companions. Like you say, more for me! Muahahaha.

LianneK said...

I wish I was back in KL, but no .. was surrounded by snowwwww in swiss :-) I will be back in May though.

Ciki said...

tummythoz:
agree! so good to be the DBKL/Tongsampah if it's prawns we are talking about right;)

Lianne:
Ooooo.. lucky you! snow is great :) when are you getting hitched? saw the wedding gown (on your website) and it looks... Gorgeous!