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NAV Modern Thai Cuisine Reunion

Review Shortlink: oap.ph/NavThai | QR Code: oap.ph/NavThaiQRCode

Here's another restaurant worth checking out in the Brgy. Kapitolyo Food Street: Nav Modern Thai Cuisine. :) The place is run by the Naval brothers (hence the name) and Chef Francis Lim (my cousin-in-law) who used to work in People's Palace.

Nav serves modern Thai cuisine that is suited to the Filipino taste (read: preference for sweeter dishes). We celebrated my wife's LIM family reunion in Nav, so we got very good recommendations on what to order here...

Dek A: Authentic Thai Hole-in-the-Wall Resto in Makati

Dek A is now my favorite authentic Thai restaurant in Manila. Dek means young and A stands for number 1 in class (as in Grade A).

Feb, who owns and runs the restaurant, is half-Filipina and half-Thai. Although she lives in Thailand with her Filipina mom, they decided to open a restaurant in Manila. You might ask, "What makes the restaurant authentic?" Well, they have a Thai cook AND their ingredients are sourced from Thailand every other week.

The days of affordable but mediocre Thai food in the metro are over. :) You have to check out Dek A in Makati...

Thai Dara

I am on a constant lookout for cheap Thai finds, and another one opened along Granada St. in Greenhills. This street is notorious for having the record of the most promising restaurants closing down in less than a year's time. With difficult parking space, a view of bumper-to-bumper traffic, and a sign that you can barely see when you are driving down the street, Thai Dara is determined to break this "curse" with authentic Thai dishes at affordable prices.

Owned by a Thai Chef who manages the restaurant but delegated the day-to-day cooking to a Pinoy cook, Thai Dara has most people raving about their Thai soups. The rest of the menu is at par with most of the cheap Thai places around. If you are craving for Thai food in the Greenhills area, this is the place to eat.

Khao Pad (Formerly U.P. Thai Canteen)

A lot of U.P. Foodies were thrilled to see the former U.P. Thai Canteen open in Ortigas Home Depot early this year. Most people thought that Mommy Thai (as the owner was fondly called by U.P. students) closed the resto for good in 2006 after moving twice outside of the campus. I finally had the chance to try it in its current home near Starbucks in Ortigas Home Depot.

They have a simple line pricing menu -- all the small dishes (good for one person) are P70, while the large dishes (good for 2-3 persons) are priced at P140.

Thai Pad, Hole-in-the-Wall Reincarnation of SukhoThai

Check out Thai Pad Menu (Bigger Version)

Most of us regarded SukhoThai as the standard of Thai food in the Philippines. When it closed down in the malls due to high overhead costs, we felt some sadness in our hearts. For a few months now, SukhoThai was reincarnated as Thai Pad in Marvin Plaza (where Canon Service center is located) along Pasong Tamo. At first, I was skeptical every time I see Thai Pad when I send my Canon 20d for repairs. I thought, oh no, not another one of those Thai restaurant wannabes. If they are really SukhoThai, why change the name?

Here are some stories that I heard about Thai Pad. The SukhoThai chef got sick and had to leave SukhoThai. Eventually, he setup his Som's hole-in-the-wall restaurant in Rockwell and eventually along N. Garcia. While Thai Pad, reinvented their concept to be more hole-in-the-wall setup which means, basic ambiance and affordable prices (around P100 only). It is owned by the same owner and uses the SukhoThai recipe except that their chefs are the "sous" chefs of the original SukhoThai chef. So expect same SukhoThai quality (I felt it was diluted) at 50% serving size and 50% the price.

Even if we felt the food is not as rich as before and the ingredients are kinda diluted, I would still recommend Thai Pad if you are craving for Thai comfort food. Although, Som's is the clear winner between the two in every Thai food aspect except for the Pad Thai. For some reason, Som's Pad Thai does not taste as good as Thai Pad's Pad Thai (I wanted to say that :).

Related Posts:
Som's Noodle House - cheap authentic version of SukhoThai
Som's Noodle House

Som's Noodle House

Read First:
Som's Noodle House - cheap authentic version of SukhoThai (October 25, 2005)

Living Room Area in Som's Noodle House

I first blog about Som's when it created a buzz in Rockwell area around October of 2005 (Som's Noodle House - cheap authentic version of SukhoThai). Ever since then our verdict was the thai food comes close to Sukho Thai except the Pad Thai. Also, after our first trip to Som's in Rockwell, we never went back because the mosquitoes and flies were annoying us. Their full pledge restaurant along N. Garcia is still down to earth and serves the same quality of food. I liked their idea of having a living/dining room area with TV that you can rent for P100/ hour. It was perfect for us especially since we have kids and we are a big group of 8. Also, this is good if you want to watch a much awaited telenovela with your officemates or simply watching NBA with your friends.

Overall, Som's is highly recommended for the Sukho-Thai taste of Thai Food except for the Pad Thai.

Check out the Som's Noodle House Menu

Jatujak in Mall of Asia!

Jatujak Menu: Click for a bigger Version

Before heading off to watch the Chinese Acrobats, Korean Paper Doll Lanterns, and the Italian Light Display, I would recommend to eat in this no-non sense Thai place called Jatujak in Mall of Asia. It is located in the second floor , entertainment mall near the center. It is named after the famous Chatuchak weekend market in Thailand and owned by a Filipino. This is what a filipino thai food should taste like and you can order your sukho thai favorites and fulfill your thai craving. We think that it is decently priced and the food is good.

Notsolillulu actually raved about Jatujak in her foodie review:

"Up until yesterday, I could only think of Muang Thai in QC to recommend...but now I've found another satisfying resto in Jatujak. Named after the world's biggest weekend market, found outside Bangkok, this restaurant presents old Thai reliables in a modern setting. Prices are reasonable and servings are more than adequate. We started with the shrimp tom yum. Although we asked for spicy (mild and medium being the other choices), we found it not unbearably hot. What we liked about the soup was that it didn't heavily rely on the spicy tom yum paste to flavor it, so you could still taste the other aromatics like galanggal and coriander. This is probably the best tom yum around here, according to my hubby, the tom yum connoisseur. We also had their fried spring rolls filled with sotanghon noodles ("glass noodles"), wood ear mushrooms and meat; they were substantial and not too oily. The pad thai boasted of nicely cooked al dente noodles, topped with loads of peanuts, beansprouts, spring onions and a couple of prawns."

Overall, Pinoy Thai Food at its bests! A little on the sweet side and you need to put kalamansi to balance it out. That is the way we like it sometimes...

Thai at Silk @ Piazza Serendra

Best Tom Yung Kung (Php 240++). Hot and Sour Prawn Soup

The Thai at Silk experience started and ended with the Best Tom Yum Kung I ever tasted in any of the Thai restaurants in Manila. It is sweet and at the same time, spicy hot because of the lemongrass and the ginger that lingers and soothes your throat. As for the rest of the menu it was forgettable and I still would not compare this to People's Palace. I must admit that they get great compliments for the interior design and the green - white motif designed by Cynthia and Ivy Almario. They put a lot of attention to detail which includes how the food is presented, how the plates and spoon/fork are selected, and even to the simple toothpick.

Thai at Silk is a Thai Fine Dining place and has been operational for less than a month at Serendra Piazza. They still need to improve a lot on the food which tasted ordinary (mostly) and it is a filipinized Thai version that is more on the sweet side. In the absence of quality premium food, you would feel that you are paying for the ambiance and presentation. In our case, cost was at P500/ person. The service we received was not at their best. Was it because they were preparing for a more important event than their customer at the moment or we were just ordinary looking folks dining at a fine dining resto? We also thought we saw the owner/ chef, Cecile Ysmael, wearing a chef attire but we could be wrong. (No photo moments with the chef and Aidan this time.) Maybe they need to learn from their neighbor across Duo on how to provide great warm service for everyone.

Net, I guess we just came at the bad time when the kitchen is already closing at 2pm in the afternoon but still, there was no excuse for that, maybe they should have closed their doors to us. I fell in love with the interiors and I do hope I can say the same thing about their food in the future. I'm sure this would get mixed reviews by the time you get to eat here so I would appreciate your dining experience with me. This would also be a gauge for me if it is time to go back and get an awesome worth of what I pay for my food and service.

Related Post:
Fash Pack Let's eat: Thai at Silk
Som's Noodle House - cheap authentic version of SukhoThai