Ban Khun Mae Restaurant at Siam Square (Thailand, Bangkok)

Ban Khun Mae located at Siam Square is just across the road (Zebra Crossing. Yes, they do have Zebra Crossings in Bangkok!) from Mango Tango. It is also located less than 5 minutes away from Hotel Novotel.

Ban Khun Mae when translated into English Language means "my mother’s kitchen". The restaurant opened for business in 1998 serving authentic Thai food has impressed many locals and foreigners. On its website, it claimed that the food it serves is made from secret recipes passed down from generation to generation. We visited the restaurant on a weekday for lunch.

The restaurant dimly lighted was clean, rustic with its timbre furnishing and Thai theme decorations (ornaments and paintings). 

Their timbre chairs were huge and heavy! Had a little struggle trying to shift it inwards. 

Menu

Ban Khun Mae's menu was in both Thai and English languages with prices clearly stated. 

Deep Fried Marinated Chicken Wrapped with Pandan Leaf 120 Baht (S$5)

Deep Fried Marinated Chicken Wrapped with Pandan Leaf 120 Baht (S$5)

The Deep Fried Marinated Chicken Wrapped with Pandan Leaf 120 Baht (S$5) served with sweet dipping sauce was superb. The chicken was well fried. Each piece was fragrant and incredibly tender and succulent. 

Green Curry Chicken 120 Baht (S$5)

Green Curry Chicken 120 Baht (S$5)

The Green Curry Chicken 120 Baht (S$5) was also top notch. It was creamy and had an appetising aroma and unique flavour. It had the right balance of sweetness and mild spiciness which hits the right spot making it a perfect combination with plain rice.  

Baked Prawn with Glass Noodles 280 Baht (S$11.67)

The most expensive dish which we ordered was the Baked Prawn with Glass Noodles 280 Baht (S$11.67). The prawns were all underneath the grass noodles. 

Baked Prawn with Glass Noodles 280 Baht (S$11.67)

Look at big the prawns are. The prawns were very fresh and the meat was firm. The glass noodles were pretty ordinary. Although the glass noodles were moist and springy, they were just way too peppery such that we could not detect any other flavours.. T&K Seafood's version was much better.

Every evening, there would be live entertainment / performance at the restaurant and that's the period when the restaurant would be most crowded. Although the Baked Prawn with Glass Noodles was a disappointment, the other two dishes were real good. Price wise, it was quite value for money for the quality of food. As for service, it could be improved. Sometimes, it could be hard to get the attention of the staff.  

Ban Khun Mae Restaurant at Siam Square (Thailand, Bangkok)

458/6-9 Siam Square Soi 8

Rama 1 Road

Patumwan District, Bangkok 10330, Thailand

Tel. 66 2250 19523

Opening Hours: Daily 11am to 11pm

Website

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Ah Loy Thai (Shaw Towers)

Ah Loy Thai is located in Shaw Towers. This post will cover the food that I ate on three different occasions. 

Long queue (Right of picture)

Visited Ah Loy Thai  on a saturday for dinner. It was around 6pm and yet there was already a long queue that stretched down the stairs to where the male toilet is. Notice the white long sleeve shirt man whose image is not clear and back is facing us? Well he is the guy who ensures that patrons queue up and assign them to the tables. So you will not want to offend him.

More seating space

Ah Loy Thai has expanded and taken a unit next to it to cater to the crowd. As a result, their seating capacity has increased around 100%! But my concern will is that the owners increased the seating capacity without increasing kitchen size. How will it cope with serving customers their food and not result in an increase in waiting time? As mentioned in my first post, the waiting time for food was around 40minutes.

Menu

While we were queuing up, we were given a pencil and this slip of paper with all the dishes and prices. We waited close to 20 minutes and had lots of time to decide what to eat.

At last, we had a place to sit. All the way at the back at a cozy corner. Having decided what to order, I went to the cashier and made the payment for my orders with the slip of paper before going to my seat. It will be a 45 minutes wait, that was what the cashier told me.

Thai Pandan Chicken $9.00

Luckily for us, we waited just around 30 minutes. The first dish that was served was the Thai Pandan Chicken. The Pandan Chicken wrapped in pandan leaves was tender, juicy, tasty and well-marinated. The pandan leaves seems to have helped trap and ensure that all the moisture and flavours did not eascape. In addition, pandan flavours were present in the chicken. The chicken were cooked till it was slightly charred. Shiok, delicious! The only down side was, it was oily. Well, for delicious food its worth it.

Thai Fried Keoteow (Phad Thai) $5.90

Having tried the Phad Thai previously, I ordered it again. Phad Thai is the thailand version of fried kway teow. It is fried with prawns, toufu, fried egg and bean sprouts. Accompanied with grinned peanut and lime. The dish was fragrance and tasty! Certainty better than most places.

Tom Yum Soup $6.90

Ah Loy Thai’s Tom Yum Soup looks fiery red with the chilli oil on top. It came with prawns, mushrooms (straw and oyster) and squids. It is a spicy yet sour soup that was balanced nicely such that despite the spiciness (numbing your tongue/sweating), you would find yourself going for more servings. We ordered a bowl of rice to accompany the soup.


On the two other occasions , this was what I ate. 

Pineapple Fried Rice $5.90

To be honest, I was very disappointed when I saw the Pineapple Fried Rice. So different from what I expected, no Chinese sausages, no floss, no cashew nuts and there was very few pieces of pineapples! But omg the moment I ate one mouthful I could not stop. This dish looks so simple and unlike other pineapple fried rice was amazingly delicious! Ingredients include prawns (which were not fresh), chicken, raisins, pineapples (very few pieces) and egg. Sounds like a negative dish? Well, amazingly the chef combined the ingredient and his skills... to cook up a fried rice that was not dry nor hard nor oily. In addition, the killer punch was the amazing wok-hei flavour presence combined with everything else was just heavenly! Certainty, a dish to try! Shiokolicious! 

Thai Green Curry $6.50

The Thai Green Curry was way off expectation. Tasted very different from my visit in 2010. The flavour of coconut was overwhelming.

Fried Butter Calamari $7.50

The Fried Butter Calamari was delicious. Despite a wet look due to the butter, each piece of calamari was still crispy. Great seasoning, very tasty.

Stired Fried Red Basil Leaf with Pork $5.80

 If you love very spicy food. The Stired Fried Red Basil Leaf with Pork is for you. The chilli bits in it had me chocking literally. The spiciness overwhelmed the rest of the flavours. Have your drink on standby! 

Fried Sweet Potato Leaf (Spicy) $4.50

Fried with chilli and garlic. The Fried Sweet Potato Leaf was an average dish. This time, the taste of the spices was not overwhelming. 

Overall, despite the wait time, the food is too good to forgo. After all these visits, the must try items are Thai Pandan Chicken, Phad Thai, Pineapple Fired Rice. If your stomach has space for more food, order Tom Yum Soup and Fried Butter Calamari. Ah Loy Thai is certainty a must try, its Thai food taste great! But do come early if you are planning a dinner as Ah Loy Thai closes at 815pm on weekdays and 715 on weekends.
(I saw several tables having a similar fish dish. Any idea what is their signature fish dish?)

After your meal, you can hop over to Tom’s Palette just opposite Ah Loy Thai for ice cream.

Ah Loy Thai (Shaw Towers)
100 Beach Road
#01-39/40
Tel: 91651543
Opening Hours: Mon – Fri, 12pm to 8:15pm
                          Sat: 1pm to 7:15pm
                          Closed on Sundays

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