Phai Lin, Bandar Sri Damansara

Posted by: ipohwav3 on: June 25, 2009

In: Eat & Drink (KL)| Floggers Get Together
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Citygal texted me few weeks ago, asking whether I’m interested going for Thai food review at Bandar Sri Damansara. I agreed to it cos it’s been a while since I last had any Thai delicacies.

The restaurant is tucked in one corner inside Sri Damansara Club, which maybe misleading for some people who think that the restaurant is not open for public. In fact, the restaurant is open to the public, so you don’t need to be a member of the club to enter the club’s compound.

As the meal were being prepared, we were quickly being introduced to Rachel, William and the rest of the group who made it to the dinner.

The appetizer, being deep fried spring rolls arrived first (RM 8 for small, 13 for large). They were pretty normal stuff with yambean (sengkuang) filling but I think the skin was a bit too hard.

The Claypot Glass Noodle with Prawns (RM 15 for small, 22 for large) arrived with its full glory. They uses medium-sized prawns for the dish, which are really fresh, springy and sweet. The glass noodle absorbed most of the essence from the prawns, surprisingly not soggy nor too dry (else they will clump together) and has a nice bite to it.

The deep fried garoupa (RM 35) presented in a very Chinese-like style, with the sweet sour sauce poured all over the fish. Again, the skin of the fish was rather hard but still crispy and the flesh were firm and fresh. We mopped the sauce clean with the fish and rice too!

CK enjoyed the Deep Fried Chicken Wings with Thai Herbs (RM 12 for small, 18 for large). I have to agree with him; the wings were fried to perfection, which retain the succulent, juicy meat and yet, the skin was crispy. The combination of sweet basil leaves, chopped lemongrass, garlic and dried chillies infused the dish with an aromatic, drool-inducing fragrance.

Tomyam soup is a must when having Thai meal (RM 18 for small, 28 for large). Phai Lin did a good job in delivering the authentic taste of Tomyam; spicy, sour, not too thick and slightly sweet from the seafood.

Other than the Stir-fried Mixed Vegetable (RM 11 for small, 17 for large), we also had my favourite Mango Salad (RM 9.50 for small, 15 for large). The shredded young mangoes were just nice, not too sour and mixed with peanuts, chopped cili padi, some dried chillies, julienned carrot, onion, lime juice and a dash of fish sauce.

When we thought the dinner has come to an end, we were surprised when the waiter placed this Raw Prawn Salad (RM 12 for small, 22 for large) on the table. While most of us were rather skeptical to devour it (especially me since I don’t take sashimi), William, Simon and yours truly decided to give it a try. Eaten together with garlic and grinded mint leaves, the prawns were again, really fresh but the more I munch on it, the more stuff seem to be filling up my mouth which prompt me to swallow it as soon as possible. Maybe I’m still not used to raw seafood.

Although there are some hit and misses, it does satisfy my craving on Thai food for the meantime. Kudos to the proprietor and chefs on the effort to maintain the authentic Thai flavour and quality in their food and doesn’t tweak much of the properties to suit local taste. If you’re within the vicinity, do give Phai Lin a try.