When it comes to food, I find that I rarely go out of my comfort zone. I can live with eating same dishes for as long as I love them. These usually revolve around dishes influenced by the Filipino, Japanese, Chinese and Indian.
Familiar dishes dominantly my plate, and although I can be open to explore a little bit, I always make sure that my so-called ‘old staples and flavors’ are always there.
This is why it wasn’t easy for my wife to convince me to give a Thai cuisine a try. The intricacies and risk of exploring new dishes are what I always avoid. You can say that I’m not really a fan of Thai food, but then on that day when my wife suggested that we eat at Simply Thai in Greenbelt 5, Makati City, I was not feeling well because my rhinitis was attacking me, and so I agreed.
Getting in, my knowledge of Thai cuisine was limited only to noodle soup and that it would always be prepared with strong aromatic components, herbs and spices, just as we Filipinos love our meal to be sour, salty and sweet maybe little spicy. Anyway, I thought I should let my senses guide me, and ordered what looked good on the photos shown in the menu.
Then came my first order: the Lamb Shank Massaman Curry, which have given a very positive impression of Thai cuisine. This dish is made of stewed lamb shank with sweet potato, nuts and caramelized shallots. It is also garnished with crispy noodles, and goes well with Khao Pad Gai, a chicken fried rice with egg and lim-garlic sauce which is a bang.
The flavor and the aroma of lemongrass, garlic and the flavor of herbs on their chicken noodle soup stand out in Thai noodles. Tom Yum Soup is a popular Thai soup although my son and wife appreciate it more than I do.
My wife ordered Pad Thai, made of fried flat noodles with tofu, chicken, beansprout and wrapped it in an egg net. It seems comparable to Korean Chap Sai maybe because of the little sweetness of it. I am more into traditional Filipino pancit “Sauteed Noodles” or the way Chinese and Japanese noodles prepare them, but my wife and son loves them. My son, on the other hand, ordered crispy fried Pla-Pla (tilapia) in savory garlic sauce and it is quite comparable to the Pinoy fried tilapia.
More Photos of Simply Thai here
Looking at the exterior, interior and overall ambience, Simply Thai is a cozy and spacious place. The waiters and waitresses are accommodating as Pinoy hospitality. You will not really identify it as Thai restaurant from the way it looks because of the absence of the Thai statues and figurines which are common fixtures in other Thai restaurants. Maybe that’s why this restaurant is called Simply Thai.
All things considered, I think I’ll start including Thai in my list of restaurant options from now on.
Simply Thai Address:
How to get there