This neighbourhood Thai place with no frills is a great outing for the whole family

As Malaysians, we all enjoy the usual Thai fare. But after awhile you realise that most Thai dishes loose its zing(!) when it arrives in Malaysia. However, ever so often you will find a place that still has its Thai roots in place while inserting a Malaysian twist to it. Ayuthai has been opened for over ten years, but only known to those who live nearby due to the nature of its location. It has a loyal following with their original customers now bringing their children here.

The setting does not differ all that much from any other Thai eatery. It has a makeshift bamboo roof over the counter and many hanging pictures showing Thai dishes (some of which you can't really pronounce). It’s a rule of thumb to try out a few signature dishes that deem a Thai place worthy of their name. Usually it's their Tom Yam and Pandan Chicken with an emphasis on their fish dishes such as Ikan Masak Tiga Rasa.

For starters their Tom Yam is excellent! Really delicious thick sauce not made with the store bought Tom Yam paste. You can actually taste the lemongrass, juicy sourness of the tangy lime, the bite of the kaffir lime leaves, heat from the chillies and some unidentified pounded spices. Why bother figuring it out? The soup itself is so good! And for those who are counting the floating prawns in the dish, well, I can assure you it is more than most places will willingly toss in there. And then the Pandan chicken arrived.

"Every bite of the pandan chicken was a juicy crunch"

We regretted instantly for ordering such a small sized dish. Even though each of the tightly wrapped chicken was quite large we still did not have enough of it. It was oh so good, that you just wanted to pop them in your mouth every chance you got. Even though I said pop in your mouth, it was still too big to do so in actuality. You could tell that the chicken was fully marinated and rested, before it was enveloped with pandan leaves and fried fragrant. Every bite was a nice juicy crunch.

The Kailan Ikan Masin (Chinese Broccoli stir-fried with Salted Fish) provided a dose of health to our fare. The yummy dish's gravy was thick and dark in colour due to the massive amounts of salted fish they put in. This was a big leap of difference from most places where you would find a random bone in your gums from munching the salted fish. But here, it's all about the chunks of delectable salty goodness! Don't be surprise if there are people who will just lap up the salted fish on its own.

If you are not in the mood for their usual Ikan Tiga Rasa, try their twist on Assam Fish. Oh, did we mention that both the Tom Yam and the fish are cooked and warmed on a bed of coals? Yup! In the middle of that steaming pot of Tom Yam and below the fish shaped metal plate was a red-hot pile of real coal! At first, when the dish came to our table, it just looked like deep fried fish with kangkung (water convolvulus) as dressing.

Just when we were about to question it, a cook arrived carrying a sauna steaming pot of gravy! HooRay! Our Assam gravy had arrived! For the Assam fish, they actually only pour the gravy once it is on your table for your viewing pleasure. The kangkung was already partially cooked when we dug in greedily with our utensils. The fish was uber fresh, you could taste the sweetness in the flesh. This is a fact that Ayuthai is proud about.

Some of the other things you should try at Ayuthai is their Green Curry, Keli Masak Special, anything masak Bawang Putih (garlic), Nasi Goreng Belacan (Thai style! With raw onions, birds eye chilli, mango, sliced omelette and black pepper chicken) and even though it's not on their menu the Limau Ice Blended (Ice blended lime juice) is exquisite! So if anyone happens to make a trip to the National Zoo, Ayuthai is just around the corner to fuel you up or end your day with a satisfied grin, just like ours!


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