Friday, November 7, 2008

Thai Up High - Simply Thai, Langham Place


This place is closed now :( 
Boohoo. I really loved it :(

I am sure you noticed how rarely I post my dining out adventures, except the ones from abroad. In my blog, I probably look like a true domestic goddess, who always cook tasty treats at home, helping my household saving cents after cents in a fat, pink piggy bank, especially during this economic crisis. But in reality, I dine out rather frequently, I just don't blog about them most of the time.

Why not? Hmm, I do have a few lame (but solid) excuses to back up my lack of dining out posts:
- Crappy pictures -> as seen in this post, sorry about that guys. When it comes to photographing objects in dimly lit environments....I suckkkkk biggg time! The pictures either end up blurry, or so dark-you won't be able to tell the difference between a piece of luscious foie gras or my toes. I need lots of tips on how to shoot in the dark . Helppppp!!!!
- I guess my readers may not like posts of yummy stuff they can only see but won't be able to enjoy/try making at home (since most of my readers aren't from Hong Kong). Is this true? Let me know what you think ;)
- Sometimes it is rather embarrassing to expose that 2 or 4 of us could swipe a table of 8 person meal shiny clean. Ehm ehm...hehe

Anyway.....here's one of my favorite Thai restaurant,
Simply Thai
Silly me ordered a mojito when there are a selection of Thai-inspired modern mocktails and cocktails on the menu. The mojito wasn't that good, but I love their rose-lemon or tamarind soda...very refreshing!

I was seated just by the floor to ceiling glass window on 13th floor, overlooking Mong Kok's busy traffic and Langham Place. It's super cool, but probably not good for those who are afraid of heights.



Waiting for my food....

Normally I am not into anything "modern" or "fusion"...I think of them as pretentious, trying too hard, and most of the time, they don't taste as good as the classics. However, Simply Thai is different. I love their modern and creative versions of Thai food. The food look fantastic, sophisticated, and darn tasty!

I am the kind of person who always order the same things again and again once I knew I like them. However, this time I steered clear off my Simply Thai favorites: pad thai, seafood curry in baked whole pumpkin, rice paper rolls with soft shell crabs, and deep fried eggplants with tamarind dip ^_^



We started with Thai beef salad, which was fabulous! The beef was perfectly cooked, the lemongrass and crispy shallot (ohhh I love crispy shallot) gave a nice combination of texture and the tiny green pieces of chilli surprised you from time to time...I had to reach for my mojito way to often to stay un-drunk. Hehe



Moving on to the lamb chops green curry...the chops were probably the only disappointment of the night. Although they were tender and juicy, there's something in the crust that gives it a bitter (not pleasantly bitter) aftertaste. However, I love everything else about this dish. The chops were served on a bed of spinach, which was cooked to perfection, and a bed of silky and luscious sweet eggplant, and the taste of the green curry was just beautiful.


We wiped the curry clean with these roti pratha. They are definitely not something we see on a Thai menu, but who cares, they are sooo good!


Thai stir fried pork rice noodles with gravy. What can I say...I think they put other noodle countries to shame. The rice noodles were nicely velvety, chewy and perfectly sticky, the gravy was bursting with flavors. It's the ultimate noodley comfort!

...and don't get me started with their desserts....these are the desserts from my previous visit. Their desserts are so creative, most people are probably afraid to order. I was amazed by things like Tom Yum ice cream, which turned out to be fantastic and sweet, not savoury and hot as I would imagine (too bad they are not available anymore, I hope they'll bring it back). But my all time favorite is their sticky banana pudding topped with ice cream. It's a banana pudding with a twist of Thai flavors and we just couldn't get enough of it, we double ordered ^_*

Tasty, beautifully presented modern Thai food at reasonable prices, with nice ambience and good service. No wonder I kept going back ^_^

Simply Thai13/F Langham Place
Mong Kok, Kowloon, Hong Kong
Tel: +852 3542 5725

Shop 1104, 11/FL, Food Forum
Times Square, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong
Tel: +852 2506 1212

8 comments:

Beachlover said...

Now I know where to find Thai's food when I'm going to HK!

Wandering Chopsticks said...

Oooh, tom yum ice cream? Chili, ginger and lemongrass? I'm gonna try that. What flavors did you detect?

Anonymous said...

Oohh yuummmmm! I want to try all these dishes and the ones that you normally get too! The Tom Yum dessert sounds interesting :) I would definitely try it!

Cynthia said...

I see that you have been busy enjoying yourself.

Lidia Sianturi said...

sticky rice with mango dessert is good Rit...do they hv it there?

Dwiana P said...

you just successfully make me jealous with all those yummy food!!

Jescel said...

I've been to MongKok once.. I will keep this place in mind. I love Thai food as well... as for photographing in the dark, heard of a thing called flash?? LOL..

An said...

Ahh I remember this place, but I go to the one in New Century Plaza above MongKok MTR (Previously KCR). Half decent Thai food.

*develops serious nostalgia for HK...*