FOOD QUEST: Khuntai Restaurant @ Petaling Garden

Khuntai Restaurant

Sawadeekap…Sawadeeka! That’s probably what you would hear when the waiters and waitresses in Khuntai greets you the moment you step into the restaurant. And the funny thing is that they were still greeting everyone in the midst of a chaotic situation. We arrived right smack in between the peak hrs and we were not the only one waiting for a place to sit. The peak hours it seems are before 9:30pm. It is almost always crazy with every single corner of the restaurant filled right to the brim. Well, if you don’t want to stand around and wait and you prefer some peace and quite dining experience, go about 9:00pm.

We got our table after waiting for about 15 mins. You could take the idling moments and check out what the rest of them are having. This would pretty much give you some idea of what are the most popular house dishes. Well, that’s what I did. I knew already what I wanted and I couldn’t wait to taste it. It didn’t help that all of us were starving.

Service was quite prompt and we ordered our food and drinks in no time. The waiters seem to be on high gear all the time and they seemed pretty motivated. I was thinking to myself “what the **** have they been eating?” Maybe it’s the nam pla.

Even the cooks were quite efficient. The food came even before our beers arrived (RM 13.50 for a Large Tiger). I really wanted to chill and have a few beers first before digging in. That was the minor glitch that evening. It threw me off balance. I wanted to take pictures of the food and at the same time all the hungry faces were getting a bit impatient waiting for me to snap away. To make things worse, the beers were sitting there, getting warm and I was totally ignoring it! What’s wrong with me!!??

The Rice Pot

Anyway, let me tell you about the food. Of course, a must-have is the Seafood Tom Yam (RM19). There have two variations here. You can either try the clear soup version or the spicy red hot ones. Personally, I prefer the red hot version as I am addicted to anything that makes my tongue trembles and sweat dripping down my neck. The tom yam is filled with seafood (prawns, squid, fish fillets, oyster mushrooms and coriander). This is good.
The Clear Soup Tom Yam

The Red Hot Tom Yam

The Choong Omelette is another interesting dish of eggs and some veggie (I have no idea what kind of veggie they use) but it gives it a bit of crunch.

Choong Omelette

We ordered a few types of vegetable namely the Thai Veggie Pak Liong and the Deep Fried Kangkung (RM8). Well, excuse my carnivorous nature; I really don’t know my vegetables. Pak Liong is some kind of veggie deep fried till it becomes crunchy and brittle and sprinkled with some omelette as accompaniment. I didn’t quite like this one as I like to feel some substance and bite and this just didn’t make sense.

Thai Veggie Pak Liong

The Kangkung deep fried with flour batter came up on top. Their version of vegetable tempura, this dish goes well with beer and so good you can even eat it on its own!

Deep Fried Kangkung

Still on the veggie trail, we also tried the stir fried Paku in Belacan (RM10)(Fiddlehead Fern in dried shrimp and chili pepper paste). I was kind of excited when I was told that they had Pucuk Paku for that day. It’s not in the menu but they do it once in awhile. Pucuk paku is one of my favourite veggie but it is not commonly available in most restaurant here in the peninsula. However, it is easily available in Sarawak. Apparently it grows in the wild there and too much of it is not good for you. Spicy and packed with a slight crunch, this was a great treat!

Pucuk Paku In Belacan

Another kick-ass dish is the Spicy Mango salad (RM10). A must try and a great appetizer, it is filled with ingredients like julienne green (unripe) mango, cashew nuts, crispy anchovies, chili padi, raw onions, strips of red chilies, coriander, basil and drench in lime juice, fish sauce and sugar syrup mix.

Spicy Mango Salad

While we were waiting for a table, I spotted an interesting dish, wrapped nicely with aluminium foil. Curiosity got the better of me and I ordered it. It was also highly recommended by the waitress. It’s the Seafood Otak Otak (RM16)(Seafood wrapped with fish mousse seasoned with coconut milk and spices). It is typically a peranakan (nyonya) dish steamed to perfection and usually wrapped in banana leaf. This version here is wrapped with foil. This is so so good! Packed with a variety of seafood like fish, squid and prawns, this dish is very rich and filled with extreme flavours and aroma. Simply gorgeous. It Hitz the Spot!

Seafood Otak Otak

If you are a fish person, you can try their fish dishes here. Served on an aluminium plate with hot charcoal burning underneath to keep warm, this Thai Style Steamed Fish (Siakap) (RM35) is really delicious. The sauce itself is something to die for. Just take a spoon full of the sauce and slurp it. You will know why. This dish got us really sweating, not just from the spicy sauce but also from the heat from the charcoal. Don’t worry if the burning charcoal evaporates the sauce faster than you can savour it. They actually have an unlimited ‘top up’ for the sauce. So go ahead and slurp away!

Thai Style Steamed Siakap

The other version of the steamed fish is the Steamed Siakap in Soya Sauce. Just as great but I prefer the former.

Steamed Siakap in Soya Sauce

Apart from the tom yam, one of the way to test their Thai culinary skills is through their green curry chicken. I simply had to order this dish to erase the bad memory of a lousy version of the Thai green curry I had in Phuket just a couple of weeks ago. It is almost unforgiving to have lousy Thai food in Thailand of all places. And Khuntai didn’t fail me. This is definitely a much better version of green curry.

Green Curry Chicken

And with all these spicy and overwhelming flavours, you need to have some refreshing drink to wash it all down… and I don’t mean beers! They have this interesting drink which they called Umpera juice (RM14 for a jug). It is actually freshly squeezed ambarella juice with sour plum. Ambarella a.k.a golden apple is a pleasant tasting acidic tropical fruit with a pineapple-mango flavour and a crunchy texture. The fruits yield a delicious juice, which can be made in to drinks and sherbets or mixed with other tropical fruit juices to enhance flavour, aroma and taste.

Umpera Juice

Verdict

All in all, this is a place for good Thai food without any frills. Forget about all the Thai artifacts / handicraft decorated place where food is overly priced. Khuntai serves great Thai cuisine and very close to traditional Thai cooking. Most of the staff there are from Thailand and they are very helpful and service is good and prompt. What more can you ask for.

Special Guest

Mr.Tham looking satisfied after a sumptuous meal. He’s wearing one of the waiter’s hat. All of them have one. Apparently it is part of their perks. We tried to buy it of them but we couldn’t unless you work there. Well, this gives me something to look for on my next trip to Thailand. Kob Khun Krap!

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