SIN: Suanthai {CLOSED}
Thai buffet, not at its best though...
UPDATE (11/02/2020): The restaurant has closed down.
UPDATE (11/02/2020): The restaurant has closed down.
I don't eat Thai food that often, but on one rainy Wednesday, my friend and I patronised Suanthai. The restaurant offers a la carte buffet with 20+ food items to choose from. Since I had a weekday lunch there, I shall put down the price here.
Adult S$16.90
Child S$12.00
Pineapple Fried Rice, Boneless Stuffed Chicken Wing & Chicken Wrapped in Pandan Leaf
I shall begin the review with the six dishes that can be ordered only once (excluding the fried rice shown in the first picture). The stuffed chicken wing was one of the best items of the day. The skin was crispy and well-marinated, while the filling was moist and tender. The chicken wrapped in pandan leaf wasn't as good as expected. It was quite dry, and the aroma of pandan didn't blend into the chicken, thus it tasted like a normal fried chicken. The fried rice was disappointing as it didn't have any distinct pineapple taste. In fact, there were only a few small cubes of pineapples.
Thai Style Chicken Satay
Although the meat cubes were kinda dry, I was glad that the sauce wasn't too sweet. I enjoyed the peanut chunks too.
Deep-Fried Squid with Garlic
To my dismay, the each pieces was very chewy and not crispy at all, not to mention that the dish lacked garlic too.
Stir Fried Mixed Seafood with Basil and Long Beans
It was a delight to have this dish which was really flavourful. The amount of seafood inside was acceptable, and I loved the tender fried fish slices so much.
Tom Yum Soup with Prawns
This last one-time order dish was extremely sour with the apparent vinegar taste. After one sip of the soup, I decided to eat only the prawns and the mushrooms.
Thai Spring Roll & Thai Fish Cake
The spring roll was filled with julienned carrots and jicamas, and it was too sweet for my liking. The fish cake wasn't that good either, and it was really dry.
Deep Fried Egg Beancurd with Special Sauce
The outer layer of the tofu was a bit hard, while the tofu itself wasn't that smooth. The purported special sauce wasn't really special at all; it was mediocre with its sweet and sour taste.
Beef with Cashew Nut
The beef slices were really good, especially since they were coated with corn flour before they were stir-fried. The onion and green pepper slices were firm and sweet, while the sweet sauce went well with rice.
Deep Fried Fish Fillet with Sweet, Sour and Spicy Sauce
The fried fish slices were kinda dry, and the sauce tasted similar to the one for the deep fried egg beancurd mentioned earlier.
Green Curry with Chicken
I'm afraid to say that it was one of the worst green curry I've ever eaten (not that I've eaten green curry so many times though). Although it had a generous amount of chicken chunks inside, it simply had too much coconut milk that it really felt as if I was sipping coconut milk. I had no choice but to leave it alone.
Green Mango Salad
The green mango slices were really fresh and crunchy. Overall, the dish had a perfect balance of sweet and sour too. The cashew nuts and dried shrimps added a bite to the salad as well. Pika's advice: Be careful not to eat the chilli padi (lit. bird's eye chili). I teared after accidentally biting one.
Fruits
I'm kinda sure you've been wondering whether dessert items are included in the buffet, no? Well, you can expect a few dessert items to end your meal. There were only watermelon and papaya slices though.
Thai Red Ruby
The red ruby was mildly sweet, but it didn't have the pandan aroma I was looking for. The tapioca flour coating was nice and chewy, while the water chestnut inside was still crunchy.
Steamed Tapioca
Although it was watery and looked unappetising, the steamed tapioca was sweet and pretty smooth.
Calamansi Drink
You can also opt for free flow of Pineapple Fried Rice (+S$1.50), Ice Lemon Tea (+S$1.99) or Calamansi Drink (+S$3.50). I would advise against ordering the calamansi drink. I paid an additional S$3.50 just to get a super diluted drink which tasted not much different from water.
Melon's Rating
Taste: 5.5/10
Ambience: 5/10
Service: 7.5/10
Overall: 6/10
Slightly more misses than hits, methinks, but the good dishes were really good. Anyway, the restaurant is quite small with tables positioned close to one another. Despite the crowd, service was pretty efficient the other day.
Suanthai
101 Killiney Road
Singapore
(Daily: 11.30am - 2.30pm, 6.00pm - 10.00pm)
*Prices quoted are subject to 10% service charge and 7% GST.
Have a nice meal,
Cliff(y)
Comments