Soy Soi - Asian and Amazing!

Soy Soi is another newbie which has hit tinseville. This one is perched in the Koturpuram main road. Koturpuram happens to be one residential locality which does not possess too many restaurants offering different cuisines and this happens to be a good addition.

This is not your usual chinese restaurant and the penetration is more towards Asian street food bordering into the cuisines of Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam and Burma. The interiors are done up well and the spacing is far larger than what you envisage it to be. Dim lightings infuse the Mandarin feel and an open kitchen atmosphere epitomises the street food culture.

Options are a little less for vegetarian but from whatever I had, I kind of enjoyed the fare. First up, the Tom Kha soup with a hint of coconut cream floating with veggies was quite nice. Not the best I've had but certainly decent enough. In the starters the Mushroom Dim sums were dished out well. They were soft and had grainy juicy mushroom pieces inset. I also tried the Pie Thai which were crispy corn tartlets having a mix of veggies inside. The thinly cut asparagus spread with a sambol sauce was quite good.

My main meal for the night was a veg Khow suey which came in a big plate with noodles at the center and condiments spread across such as peanuts, tofu, chilli flakes etc and coming along with an aromatic thai red gravy. This was the stunner and elevated the dish as it had a really delicious taste with strong dosage of coconut cream and just the right amount of veggies.

For desserts, had a Soy Soi brownie which was average at best. The brownies were quite chunky but a little hard at the exterior. The ice cream helped to balance out things.

Overall, it was a fairly pleasing meal. The service was quick and the food came in even intervals. One major grouse I have however is on the quantity. The portion sizes just did not justify much and even if the pricing can be said to be reasonable, the quantity feels a detriment.

On the whole, a nice little Asian eatery down this alley. Just a wee bit sprucing up on the portions can do this place a world of good.

Chiangmai Thai - A Thai based restaurant at Surfers Paradise

Chiangmai Thai is an upmarket Thai based restaurant in the vicinity of Surfer's Paradise at Gold Coast. It signifies a lot of 'Thai' by the way the interiors are designed. There are a lot of Buddha statues, gold griffins, antiques hanging across, monastery miniatures, lion and elephant statues and other interesting patterns. The color pallette also tries to be in sync with the whole south east asian surrounding. The decor is royal and the place is massive in size and there is an inherent buzz about the place. They've spaced out the place really well to have maximum tables and chairs within the available space.

The restaurant is for the out and out meat lover and vegetarian food is sparse. There is hardly anything available and you would have no option but to settle for a red or green curry to go along with your rice/noodles of which variety is again exigous. Of course you wouldn't have any sort of worry if you love your meat as there are plenty of choices available.

Obviously I went with a veg fried rice and chose the vegetable green curry. There were not even soups available for veg but we requested for a tom yum vegetarian but they said they cannot make it without adding a fish sauce which forced me to politely refuse the offering. Highlighted below is an account of the vegetarian side of things.

The Veg fried Rice was more of a colored rice with plenty of fresh veggies accompanying it and was pretty nicely flavored. The green curry was almost a replica of a veg stew. Covered with a bundle of veggies over a layer of coconut cream, it was pretty nice although i did expect it to be a tad spicier. It felt a little mild for the liking.

The service was quick with the food coming to the table in quick time. Pricing seems to be moderate. I guess I am not the right person reviewing this place considering anything even remotely to do with veg is not their forte. Just from the 2 items I had and considering the ambiance scape, would term it as a reasonable fare. I suggest you avoid this place if you're a vegetarian or even an egg eater. If you like your sea food it looks like a pretty good bet as seen from the heavy crowds thronging this place.

True Blue Thai at Absolut Thai

Thai based restaurant's seem to be suddenly springing up in a major way and most of them seem to be located within striking distance of one another. 'Absolute Thai' is one of the recent offerings bringing to the plate authentic Thai cuisine. This one is mushroomed in the Cenotaph main road in a compound which also has a Sushi restaurant and a Baker's street about to be launched soon.

The ambiance here is fairly simple with nothing over the top. Lots of red, orange and gold adorn the place perhaps in tune with the culture of South east Asia which defines a sense of peace and quietitude and in line is the minimalistic music playing at the background. The letters of the Thailand language inscribed in the wooden interiors add a nice touch. The decor comprises of cushioned seats and though they are comfortable would be good if they can elevate the height for the back to rest a wee bit.

They have done away with the traditional bound menu format and here it comes in the form of a pamphlet spread on your table. The 2 sides of which the top side consists of the detailed menu comprising roughly 80 items and the bottom half gives a descriptive look of the signature dishes forming around 30 of those making your work easier in choosing the best of the lot.

Went here for a sunday night dinner and ordered the following stuff:
Tom Kha soup (Creamy coconut soup): It was absolutely lovely. It was liquidy with a dash of cream and assorted veggies floating along. Sufficient quantity and wonderful flavoring giving an enticing taste to the mouth. Seldom have had a better and different soup than this one.

Khoa Pod Tod Namprikpow (Baby corn tossed with roasted chilli paste and serviced in rice tartlets): This one was as crispy as it gets. The rice tartlets were used as holders for holding the baby corn. A bunch of pieces of corn fitted along nicely and were spruced up with the requisite spices giving a crunchy taste. A good starter on the veg section.

Phat Bami (Stir fried Egg Garlic Noodles): The noodles were decent and nicely stir fried. It was more of the usual stuff and you didn't get the feeling of tasting something exotic and unique. The test was passed but the score was in the borderline range.

Kaeng Kiew Wan (Thai Green Curry): It was my first tryst with the ever popular Thai green curry. Was suggested to try this and was told that it would be a good bet with the noodles. Don't know much about the history of the green and red curries but I expected it to be more thicker but it turned out to be pretty watery and soaked with a plethora of veggies. It was a little too spicy for the tongue but I kind of enjoyed the taste. It was a different experience.

They were also quite magnanimous to serve a lime ginger mocktail, betel leaves with several condiments to toss up and eat and also regular servings of lemon grass tea as complementary.

The service was amicable with the waiters wearing a smile on their face and willing to help us go about with our orders. It's not easy not knowing much of Thai cuisine and they were a great helping hand. The rates are simply put on the expensive side. It is a bit deceiving as the prices mentioned on the menu are sans 10% service charge, 5.6% sales tax and 2% VAT and your bill will end up coming higher than you envisage. Parking facilities are promptly available.

If you happen to be a vegetarian options are far and few in between. Surely not the best place to dine out if you happen to stick with just veg. It's early days yet for Absolute Thai and hoping that as time goes along they emerge to be a big time player in the Thai/Chinese food genre. Simply from my first visit here, would term it as a pretty satisfying dinner experience.