Saturday, September 20, 2008

100. Yhingthai Palace


I did not make any reservations and by the time I reached Yhingthai Palace, it was 7.35pm. It was already filled with people. My makan kakis whom I brought along with did not know Yhingthai Palace is a thai cuisine restaurant. The cursive script of their signboard misled them to read it as Shanghai Palace. The waiter at the door asked if we could finish by 8pm if he allowed us to take the reserved table. Our reply was should be alright as we didn't want to walk away without getting to taste the food. And....we managed to finish by 8.10pm.

Ordered lime juice which was at $3 per glass. The lime juice was quite sour which was just right to wash down all the grease from the fried stuffs we have ordered.


Yam Ma Muang @$15

For appetizer, we had this green mango salad, the small portion. Must-try! A mixture of sliced green mangoes, cucumber, shallots, peanuts (whole), dried shrimps and etc. Usually, I wouldn't order the green mango salad when I eat Thai food because the green mango is sour and the sauce too sweet. But the one at Yhingthai was very appetizing. It made us didn't want to stop. The peanuts and dried shrimps created the crunch. The green mango wasn't sour, it was with a tinge of sweetness. Slight spiciness from the chilli and I could taste the fish sauce. I realised that Thais like to use fish sauce in their cooking. This dish is definitely one that provokes your palate.
Khao Tang Nah Tang @$10

Also known as crispy rice chips with prawn and chicken dip. We ordered the small portion. It was served after the appetizer. After my tastebuds were provoked from the spiciness and sourness (from the sauce) from the appetizer, I could not really taste out the flavour of the dip except that it was coconut cream. The coconut cream was sweet. I felt the prawn and chicken which were cut into bits in the dip only added texture to the crispy rice chips and not much of the flavour. Sort of like just dipping rice chips in coconut cream.
Parsley and chopped chillies were placed at the side, to be added on the rice chips based on own preference. I felt it would have been better if the dip was served piping hot and with the spiciness of the chopped chillies, it will further enhance the flavour of this dish.
Kuay Teow Phad Thai @$15
Small portion. The phad thai was a disappointment. The kuay teow was hard, not that it wasn't cooked but the texture of the kuay teow that they have chose to use, seemed to be by nature, hard. It wasn't to our liking. I like the kaffir lime which added the fresh flavour to the phad thai. Though chilli flakes was added, it didn't create much difference to the spiciness.

Kai Hor Bai Toei @$3 per piece

One thing I like about Yhingthai Palace is some of the finger food is priced per piece. I felt this will be a better calculation of cost and equal distribution of food if you are with a bunch of friends or makan kakis. Also, you won't waste food.

The pandan chicken was good. I will recommend this dish. The chicken was marinated with black pepper. My gusto for chicken. The chicken was well marinated and could do well without the sauce which I believed was oyster or shrimp paste. The chicken was tender and not oily.

Tom Yam Kung @$6 per serving
Tom yam kung and tom yam talay are of not much difference. The later was a combination of mainly seafood such as squids, prawns, chicken and straw mushrooms. Tom yam kung has only prawns and straw mushrooms. They both shared the same clear broth which seemed harmless yet provocative to the tastebuds. Spicy and sour were the two main descriptions to this dish. If this is served piping hot, prepare napkins to wipe off your sweat and feel your stomach churn from the spiciness.
Peek Kai Sord Sai @$3 per piece
This is the deboned chicken wings stuffed with mushrooms and asparagus. Crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside. Mainly because mushrooms are good absorbents with their spores structure. The juice from the chicken wings was absorbed by the mushrooms. The asparagus taste wasn't a very strong flavoured veggie but due to its firm stalk, it created the crunch feel. Dipped into the thai sweet and spicy sauce, it was a purrrfect match! But do take note as it was served piping hot. Though the exterior may have cooled down a bit, the interior is definitely still steaming hot.

Thord Mun Pla @$2.50 per piece

After I have heard from my friend on how she saw the factory workers added food additives to the fishballs and fishcakes to make them springy, I started to deter from them. But I believed the thord mun pla were handmade because the ingredients were different. I could taste the tom yam flavour in the fishcake. The sauce was thai sweet and spicy sauce except that nicely-cut fresh cucumber and ground peanut were added into the sauce. I personally felt the fishcake was just so-so but 1 of my makan kakis complimented on the fishcake as she savoured on it.

Kung Sam Rot @$6 per serving
This is definitely not a king prawn, just a bigger size prawn. It appealed to my makan kaki because it was stated to be served with 3 different types of chilli. The taste of the deep fried prawn was draped by the spoonful of chilli. Frankly speaking, it was just chilli prawn but the dish name lured diners. Curiousity killed the cat and here, it burned our pockets. I think it was quite expensive for a prawn to cost $6.
Food was served very fast. I am not sure if they were trying to make sure that the diners who reserved tables get their seats or it is always so prompt service. But I definitely got a big surprise from them. I knew that the waiter who is in charge of the reservations had his eyes on our table all the time. When queue formed outside the door, I asked for the bill and his face lighted to a smile.
I quickly signed for the bill without a careful check. A glance at the total amount was near $220. Impossible! When the receipt was brought to me, the cashier had actually keyed in 32 glasses of lime juice which cost $96. WAh! The final bill was corrected to $116. Heng ar! Else, it would not have been worthwhile to pay ~$73 per pax for the food we had. So, do remember to check your bill before you pay everytime.

Yhingthai Palace

36 Purvis Street #01-04

Singapore 188613

Tel: 63371161 / 6337 9429

Recommended to do reservations!

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