A newly-opened Thai restaurant has some authentic, popular fare on offer. Neeti Nigam relished a few well-known delicacies
Thanks to celebrities tweeting pictures and posts on the exotic street food of Thailand and the food bloggers going gaga about the carters selling lip-smacking satays and soups, we all are now better educated about the street food culture of Thailand. There are a few places in Delhi that serve some Thai delicacies here. The newly-opened restaurant Soi Thai in Basant lok Market is an addition to the list.
The restaurant is done up with class and artworks by a budding artist Nakul Mondal adorn the walls. “A lot of people have been visiting this place and they love the works,” commented the owner or Soi Thai, Shinjini Kapoor, who was in Bangkok for over five years and is in love with the Thai cuisine.
“I was married in Bangkok. The city has a culture of eating out more than cooking at home. My husband and I, therefore, got addicted of eating Thai. We relished street food, which is healthy and is in a way similar to North Indian cuisine. When we returned to Delhi, we realised that Thai cuisine is highly underplayed. First there are not many places serving Thai and second those who serve it, Indianise it poorly,” shared Kapoor.
Kapoor ordered soup, salad and appetisers. “I feel Thai can replace the Chinese in the menu cards. It is easy to prepare and healthy too. The salads and soups have zero calories as they are prepared fresh with no oil,” informed Kapoor. The menu is extensive with an equal variety in vegetarian and non-vegetarian. One can have chicken, pork and lamb and in seafood section, there’s prawns and fishes. “This part of Delhi is well-travelled and enjoys experimenting with food. But at the same time, their choices are limited to popular meats like chicken. But soon, we will introduce lobsters and scallops in the menu,” said Kapoor. We began the meal with chicken tom yum soup, which is prepared with lemongrass, an essential herb of the Thai cuisine. Chicken satay was mild and didn’t have aroma of spices. Fish tod man cake was dark brown in colour and was spicy and crispy. It’s larb Kai, a warm spicy chicken and herb salad that will make you indulge. Minced chicken was laced with sauces. This dish justifies the sour, sweet, salty and bitter taste that the Thai cuisine is known for.
In main course, we chose vegetarian yellow curry over popular green and red curries. This curry is richer, sweeter and creamier than other Thai curries. Coconut cream is used in addition to coconut milk. It is to be had with steamed rice. We also ordered Pork Phat lat Phrik. This minced pork dish is prepared in spicy sauces. The aroma of basil and lemongrass makes it a must-try. There is option of eating your dish in bowl too. Bamee latnaa is prepared with yellow noodles topped with mixed gravy. “Since JNU campus is close to the market, we have introduced this pan fried delicacy that is not heavy on pocket and at the same time is filling for the students,” said Kapoor.
We summed up the meal with banana fritters with coconut flavoured ice-cream. For those who do not want their dessert to be too sweet, this one is a healthy option.