Pla Phat Takai

MANILA, Philippines — SABAI JAI KAI YANG – Our Thai friend recommended this restaurant in the Ekkamai area and is of the less touristy restaurant catering more to a casual dining and office crowd. Located at Ekkamai Soi 1, the restaurant seems to have started as a grilled chicken venture (Kai Yang) so their Thai version of lechon manok had other dishes that revolved around this and eventually spun off to other offerings. The name Sabai Jai Kaiyang has a poetic translation, meaning, relaxed heart-grilled chicken.

Because the huge place has an outdoor area with a section of live music and two air conditioned areas, the menu is designed for dining and drinking.

As we settled down, we took to ordering items that are not typically the stereotype tourist guide dishes. And since this place catered to a lot of locals, there were some excellent finds. We had Tom Sab Moo or steamed pork E – saan style which is their version of sinigang and quite different from the Tom Yum. The soup was not shy in ingredients and being a rustic country dish, one’s spoon had to wade and maneuver through the fresh ingredients such as young ginger, saw coriander, lemongrass, kaffir and kamias, etc.

The Laab Moo Pa or pork salad country style with a touch of red curry paste was devilishly hot but freshly tossed with shallots and sweet white onions, mint and cilantro.

The Poo Nim Pong Kali or soft shell crab dry curry was fragrant but was served a little out of time as the crisp coating of the crab had soaked and softened on the curry sauce. This would have been spectacular with some pristine Khao Suey (beautiful steamed rice) as the Thais would term it.

Another salad offering which they do well is Som Tam Kai Kom. The papaya salad has a wonderful fragrance of freshly squeezed lime with fresh Thai basil and given a tasty dimension with salted egg or Kai Kom as the name implies.

A dish or recipe that we enjoy is Nem or fermented pork. This is a northern style of meat preservation where pork is subjected to a curing and light souring due to fermentation. It can take the form of sausage, ground meat or whole cubes of meat. This restaurant serves Nem Moo Pa which is fermented wild boar. The ribs of the boar have a lightly tart and almost beer like or wine flavor due to the curing process. This is eaten with pickled young ginger to cut the richness and light gamey flavors of the wild pork.

What made the dinner totally amazing was probably when I tasted the most outstanding version I have had of Pla Phat Takai. One kilo of Tilapia is dredged in starch and fried to a crisp as it is coated with a savory crisp brittle sweet sour glaze that has a complexity of palm sugar, fish sauce, lime juice, tamarind and coated with crushed green peppercorns. It is further enhanced with fried kaffir leaves, lemongrass and pandan that is a magical display of crisp textures but preserving the white pristine and sweet water flesh of the Tilapia. There is delicate brittle crispiness in the thin gossamer and savory sugar coating these morsels of fish. This dish is something that requires more pilgrimages. Just to return to this place where they have perfected an already complex recipe that requires absolute feeling and skill of a chef is something to think about the next trip.

I guess it is only in places where locals patronize that superior skills like this shall exist because of the demands for pure and authentic recipes.

SOM TOM NUA – The charm of this rather cramped two-storey restaurant at SOI 15 in Siam Square is the convenience of being able to eat street side hawkers’ specialties in the midst of a bustling shopping district in a more comfortable airconditioned area. The clientele is young and the queue on peak hours for a table is long because the prices are very reasonable. This little restaurant is known by everyone from your saleslady, to Thai yuppies, to the well heeled. It specializes in Som Tum or papaya salad and its variations.

Though risky, we chose Som Tum Pooh with its salted raw crab, as the salted raw crab really gives a rich creamy and flavorful dimension to the papaya salad. Just this salad and some of their Khao Niew or glutinous rice would have made a tasty light meal but we wanted to order more items since it did take us 20 minutes to half an hour just to get a table. So, to go with this spicy and zesty papaya salad, we had a fried chicken that arrived freshly fried, redolent of garlic and had a different floral, peppery flavor.

The Kom Moo Yang or barbecued pork neck had a fragrant and reed flavor. This we dipped in a roasted chili puree with herbs and tamarind pulp called Nam Ching Chiew. The extra salted or preserved pork ribs also went well with this dip in between nibbles of papaya salad. Another item in the menu that is of the same regional cuisine as Som Tam is Saikro Isan or pork and rice sausage. This sausage made of fermented pork and rice is eaten with young preserved ginger.

Over all, Som Tum Nua is good value for money in terms of Bangkok standards and location.  Again, it does not bend its standards to conform to tourists or farangs but maintains the authenticity of taste as evidenced by the many locals who queue up for a seat everyday.

You can email me at

chefgenegonzalez@yahoo.com