Talad Thai: Comforting Thai Street Food in Bedok
PUBLISHED December 8th, 2016 06:00 am
Thai street food, in part, is a type of comfort food for me because of its similarities to Chinese food – think dry noodles, soup noodles, rice with meat, skewers, and more. And while we do have decent Thai food in Singapore, there’s a gap between the street food in dingier places such as Golden Mile Complex and Orchard Towers versus the fine, upmarket Thai dining like Long Chim at Marina Bay Sands.
Recently, we popped down to six-month old Talad Thai for a sampling of its offerings, and it’s promising to fill that gap.
The menu features iconic Thai dishes you know (and might be tired of by now) that cater to the less adventurous, but we like that the folks at Talad Thai has focused on lesser seen noodle and rice dishes.
I love noodles, so we started with the Mixed Spicy Noodles with Minced pork – very similar to our bak chor mee – and the Ayutthaya Boat Noodles, both $5.80 for medium and $9.80 for large. The meatballs are filler-less and springy, and tender pork slices complete the fulfilling dish.
One thing you’ll notice is that soup is (rightly) a precious commodity at Talad Thai, with extra servings going at $1 for regular noodle dishes, and $2 with the more premium Stewed Wagyu Beef Noodles ($18.80).
For those willing to spend a little more on mall food – though Talad Thai is quite atypical mall food – the quality wagyu beef slices and rich consommé-style soup is worth it. It takes a whopping 10 hours for the soup to be ready, which accounts for the dark intensity rarely found in a sub-$20 dish.
For comparison’s sake, we also tried Talad Thai’s Pad Thai with Tiger Prawns ($13.80) and the effort didn’t go to waste. Their version of the dish is more complex than other renditions we’ve had in Singapore, heavier on the dried shrimp front than the sweet or the sour. Pork lovers will enjoy a side dish of Pork Slices with Spicy Lime Sauce ($8.90) – a ridiculously simple looking dish because the secret is in the spicy lime sauce.
If you’re heading down in a slightly bigger group, get the Somtum Tray ($18.80). Featuring grilled pork skewers, E-Sarn sausages, assorted veggies, sticky rice, and your choice of papaya or mango salad, it’s perfect for sharing. Their som tum selection features more uncommon toppings like fermented fish and salted crab if you’re feeling adventurous!
Last but not least, their Red Ruby ($3.80) is amazing. Personally, I hated this dessert until I tried Talad Thai’s take – with the ‘rubies’ soft and sticky on the outside and juicy and crunchy on the inside. Apparently, other places cheat by using turnip instead of water chestnuts, which are hand peeled and chopped on the premises of Talad Thai. The labour intensity means that the dessert is only available in limited portions each day so order before it gets sold out!
Talad Thai is located at #01-78 Bedok Mall, 311 New Upper Changi Road, Singapore 467360, p. 6386 1592. Open 11.30am-10pm daily.
