9 new selections from ParaThai for you to try

Stepping into ParaThai is akin to walking into a modern art gallery, with pieces ranging from pottery to paintings to photography. This new restaurant concept debuted in early November, and the novelty factor is indeed evident. I was greeted with a resounding "Sawadee ka' (Thai for hello) before being ushered to my seat. A landscape photo of a Thai lady with her hands clasped together in a wai is displayed near the kitchen, and handicraft such as Thai pots are neatly shelved to enhance the Thai dining experience. Read till the end to find out how to receive a $20 dining voucher.

Led by Chef Meaw, the team stays true to the rich Thai culinary culture and its ancient flavours. After previous media tastings with Paradise Inn, Paradise Dynasty and Canton Paradise, I was excited to try out Paradise Group Holding's new Thai food concept at One KM mall!

Really excited to try out their new Thai concept!

The technology-savvy restaurant has an e-concierge at the entrance, featuring its Facebook page as well as membership enquiries.

E-Concierge at ParaThai

The menu consists of a hard-cover purple booklet. I loved how they kept it simple with only one booklet, thus making the ordering process so much easier and smoother.

Appetiser section of the menu

* denotes my recommendations

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1. Hor Mok Pla (Thai Style Otak-otak)* — S$10.90

Thai Style Otak-otak

The portion is huge enough to share amongst four people. I was there with my family and all of us thoroughly enjoyed this brightly-coloured dish. Each portion was warm, thick and mildly spicy. Furthermore, the mackerel was really fresh and juicy!

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2. Tom Yum Goong (Tom Yum soup with Sea Prawns)* — S$7.90

Super spicy Tom Yum soup with Sea Prawns

Tucking into this bowl of Tom Yum soup, I felt like a bomb went off in my throat. It was SUPER shiok (Singaporean slang for extremely delicious)! I have never been fond of sour foods, but this was somehow refreshingly tasty. An entire prawn was dunked in the soup (complete with head and shell) and the juices made the soup a wholesomely appetising one.

Menacing-looking prawn

Brace yourself for each gulp! I would suggest you take small sips because I ended up coughing when I drank an entire spoonful. If you think you have a high threshold for spiciness, take up this challenge! Let me know if you are able to conquer it!

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3. Suer Rong Hai (“Crying Tiger” BBQ Beef Steak served with Homemade Sauce)

BBQ Beef Steak with Homemade Sauce

These thick cuts of beef had a softer texture at both ends, but were harder towards the centre. "Crying tiger" certainly calls for some stretch of the imagination to interpret; its name actually derives from the flame rising as the beef fat drips onto the charcoal (resembling a crying tiger). The meat was juicy and didn't require much sauce to pep it up. I felt the homemade sauce didn't do justice to the cow which sacrificed its life for this dish.

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4. Phad Kha Na pla Kham (Stir-Fried Kailan with Salted Fish) — S$10.90

Stir-Fried Kailan and the invisible salted fish

Without looking at the name of this dish, I wouldn't have known there was salted fish in it. Although the kailan (Chinese kale) was fresh and tasty, I was sorely disappointed by the extremely tiny pieces of salted fish. Furthermore, the portion was too small for the price.

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5. Gai yang Para Thai (ParaThai style Grilled Chicken served with Green Papaya Salad)

Gai yang Para Thai

This tasted like grilled chicken chop with nasi lemak. My family and I were quite disappointed with this dish as the rice was dry and the chicken was not served hot enough. The green papaya salad was very difficult to chew and a tad too sour.

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6. Thai Green Curry Chicken — S$12.90

The Thai Green Curry Chicken was disappointing in terms of size and flavour. It came in a really small bowl and was only quarter-filled with curry. In fact, it didn't taste like green curry but seemed more like a gravy. The portion of chicken was really small as well, but the thick texture was comforting and satisfying!

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7. Steamed Seabass with Lime* — S$29.90

The gorgeous steamed seabass came in a food warmer tray. It was so huge that we attracted stares from other tables. I thought it looked like a submarine! Unfortunately, the fish looked pretty flat and I would prefer that the chefs prop up the head of the fish by placing some ingredients below. The gravy was uniquely Thai, with lots of lime and spices.

The fish came with most of the bones removed, and was already cut into several slices for easy distribution. This is my personal favourite!

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8. Thai Iced Tea — S$4.20

The Thai Iced Tea was pretty sweet. It seems as though a considerable amount of condensed milk (or sugar syrup) was used, while I prefer my tea to be more natural-tasting.

Overly sweet Thai Iced Tea

Although I'm extremely sensitive to caffeine, I had no trouble falling asleep after having this at dinnertime. Interestingly, a mysterious brown substance was spotted at the bottom of the glass. It tasted like a chocolate-based syrup or malt-like liquid candy.

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9. Thai Chendol* — S$5.80 

Refreshing Thai Chendol

I have a sweet tooth and thoroughly enjoyed this! It had sufficiently large amounts of red beans and green starched noodles with pandan flavouring. The only drawback is that it was quite difficult to thoroughly mix the shaved ice and coconut milk.

Prices are subject to 10% service charge and prevailing GST.

From now till 30 Jan 2015, receive a $20 dining voucher when you dine at ParaThai if you are a ANZ, OCBC or PGR Cardmember.

Terms and conditions:

• Valid from Mondays to Fridays, excluding eve of PH and PH.
• Valid with a minimum spend of $50 and bill must be paid by ANZ or OCBC debit/credit card.
• Limited to one redemption per table per bill.
• Original voucher must be presented upon ordering, duplicates are not accepted.
• Not valid with other promotions, discounts or e-vouchers.
• Amounts stated are subject to 10% service charge and prevailing government taxes.
• The management reserves the right to change the terms and conditions without prior notice.

Para Thai

11 Tanjong Katong Road

#02-23 One KM

Singapore 437157

Tel: 6702 2541