Nara Thai Cuisine @ Ion Orchard {Foodee}

I just realized that I haven’t blogged about anything food-related lately, and last week gave me the opportunity to rectify that situation. The Entertainer Singapore invited me and a few other bloggers and our guests to Nara Thai Cuisine to sample their food and drinks.

Nara Thai aims to bring lip-smacking Thai street food into an air-conditioned restaurant. Founded by Yuki Srikarnchana, who started the first Nara Thai restaurant in the basement of Erawan, Bangkok in 2006, the restaurant made its way to Singapore in 2013, and was listed among Singapore Tatler’s Best Restaurants in the subsequent year.

In May, inspired by Bangkok’s grilled street food, Nara Thai’s new menu features 15 new dishes, ranging from Caramelised Mango with Coconut Ice Cream and Basil Sauce, to Street-Style Grilled Seabass With Thai Herbs and the lavish Assorted Grilled Seafood Platter.

I love Thai food, so I was pretty excited to go. My friend Cate and I were seated at a table with Wilbur and his sister. I discovered that Wilbur’s blog is all about Thailand, so I said, since he was a Thai expert, I would need to ask for his expert opinion on everything we ate during the night. We spent the entire meal laughing (aside from eating and taking pictures, of course). It was one of the most enjoyable blogger events I’ve been to.

I loved the place. It was tastefully decorated and had a wonderful ambiance. The tables were widely spaced apart so it did not feel very crowded and you could comfortably enjoy your meal with your companions. And since it’s located in Ion Orchard, it’s very convenient, too.

Here are the dishes we sampled.

Cha om is a strong-smelling herb that is commonly used in Thai dishes. However they did a good job of preparing the omelette because it does not stink at all, and my table mates commented that the omelette tasted good. I am honestly not really a fan of herb omelettes, so you will have to take their word for it.

This is made with Thai garlic and not the ordinary garlic. The difference is that Thai garlic is smaller and crispier. It’s also not as overpowering. To some people this would be a plus, but if you like strong garlic taste, then maybe you won’t like this. I was quite happy with this.

Now this is quite unique – blue rice! This is the first time I’ve ever had blue rice. This is actually just ordinary Jasmine rice coloured blue by boiling butterfly pea flowers, which is high in anti oxidants. It has no taste, so the rice just tastes like normal rice but is a lot healthier, not to mention more photogenic. I highly recommend it! 😀

This was the clear winner of the night (yes, even over the blue rice). The pork neck is the favoured cut of the Thais as it has the perfect balance of fat, muscle, and tender flesh. It’s perfect! This is so delicious, especially when dipped into the sauce which had added texture thanks to a sprinkling of toasted larb. If you have a budget for just one dish, this is what I’d recommend you get.

Who doesn’t love seafood? This plate has a little bit of everything in it, and they’re all fresh and grilled street-style like Thai street food.

When I first tasted the fish, I thought it was freshwater fish because that’s what it tasted like, but it turned out to be sea bass which they source fresh from Jurong fishermen.  The whole sea bass is stuffed with lemongrass, kaffir lime and galangal, then slow-cooked on the grill. The result is a tender, aromatic flesh with a crispy smoky skin.

The plate also has skewered scallops, grilled whole squid, mussels with chili lime marinade, and barbecued black pepper tiger prawns.

Enhancing the flavour of the seafood is the Nam Jim seafood sauce, a tangy blend of Thai-sourced ingredients – coriander, lemongrass, fish sauce, galangal, kaffir lime and Thai palm sugar.

 

Everything on this plate can be bought separately as well, and if you had to pick just one, I would recommend the tiger prawns.

Coconut ice cream is my most favourite Thai dish, so as you can imagine, I was very happy to find this in front of me. The ice cream was delicious as expected, and the mango was sweet. They informed us that they make sure to pick only sweet mangoes, so if there isn’t any for the day, then they won’t have it on the menu. Guests are disappointed when that happens, but this means that you are always guaranteed a great dessert, which is better, isn’t it?

The basil sauce was unique, and while I could have done without it, I thought it was an interesting twist, one of many for that meal.

Here is a picture of everything on our table. It’s making me really hungry right now. Help.  😐

Did my post make you hungry, too? Guess what, you can get one-for-one deals on mains at Nara Thai using the entertainer app.

The Entertainer offers more than 750 Buy One Get One Free offers for Singapore’s hottest restaurants, bars, informal dining, spas, activities, attractions and more.

This year’s product includes the Entertainer Travel 2015, which features over 250 free night offers at leading 4 and 5* hotels across Asia and beyond. Until 31 August 2015, Entertainer members can book one night, get one free; book two nights, get two free; book three nights and get three free with some 90 hotels under the Hot Summer Nights promotion.

The Entertainer Singapore app retails at S$60 and the Entertainer Singapore book, which contains the same vouchers in paper format is at S$75. The promo code “2015ALVIN” would entitle one to a further 10 per cent discount if you buy it off www.theentertainerme.com.

I just downloaded the entertainer app and I’m really excited to avail of the vouchers and save a lot of money on a bunch of great restaurants and shops and even 5 star hotels. Wow!

NARA THAI CUISINE
🏠 Ion Orchard #B3-21
🚂 Nearest MRT: Orchard
📞 +65 6634 5787
💻 narathai.com.sg

⏰ Opening Hours: 11:30 am – 10:00 pm (Last order at 9:30 pm)

Disclosure: I received the featured products for free. All opinions are entirely my own.