Who's up for some authentic Thai street food?! As its name suggests, Thai Alley is a conceptual Thai chain restaurant that has been ambitiously opening up several branches in Jakarta. In this occasion, we were invited to try their delicacies in Gandaria City branch! It's so easy to find since it's strategically located at one of its main lobbies!
It's the most well-lit branch of all the chains I think, thanks to the clear glass window! Although in my opinion, the others give better vibe of an actual "thai alley" though!
Street paintings on a street food concept! Can't get any better!
RAYONG IDR 45K
Peach chuncks, lime, mint leaves, lavender syrup and soda.
Let's start of with this amazingly refreshing beverage! Though mangoes are Thai's number 1 fruit, we're gonna go with peach instead, since mango has heavier taste and all of the combination here screams nothing more but FRESH!
YAM MAMUANG IDR 42K
Spicy mango salad with chili and lime juice.
OK let me be honest with you guys, I didn't try this one because I'm not a real fan of exotic Asian salad. This tasted a bit too strong for me as this contains young mangoes combined with beans, along with acidic dressings.
NANG KROB PAD HENG IDR 45K
Crispy dried beef skin crackers with tom yam paste.
It's a traditional Thai appetizer, crackers made of cowhide instead of the usual prawn crackers. It's tasty and crispy, deep fried with tom yam seasonings. Simple crunchy goodness!
THAI STARTER
A whole package of Thai's most common starters!
TOD MAN GOONG IDR 45K
Thai prawn cake.
While it looks like calamari, it's actually fried prawn cakes that tastes perfectly like prawn! Indonesia has its own kind of prawn cakes so you might be familiar with this one! Deep fried into a crunchy perfection, you can taste that this place offers real cooking!
TOD MAN PLA IDR 42K
Light curry flavored fish cake.
This one tastes so good! And as a fishcake, the flavor of the fish really comes out as if you're eating fresh seafood. Rich of taste despite its simple presentation (looks like Indonesian perkedel, but it's not made of potato at all). Explosive!
GAI HOR BAI TOEY IDR 42K
Marinated chicken in pandanus leaf.
Here we go! The traditional thai style fried chicken wrapped in pandan leafs that almost never fails! The leafs themselves give a kick to the aroma while it protects the chicken from being overcooked as a substitute of flour. The seasonings are packed inside the chicken and you could only imagine how flavorful it is!
GOONG HOM SABAI IDR 42K
Deep fried prawn rolls.
I don't need to explain what this is. What I can tell you is that this, too, is really GOOD. Thumbs up to the chefs that take the simplest dish to the next level. They're worth the compliment!
PAD PHAK BOONG FAI DENG IDR 42K
Stir fried morning glory with garlic.
Simple water spinach that tastes like home-cooked kangkung. As good as your granny would make it! It's amazing how they could keep simple dishes to their best taste with proper seasonings to provide a taste that fits our palate.
TOM YAM TALAY IDR 95K
Jumbo traditional Thai soup with seafood, mushroom and lemongrass.
Let's talk about authenticity now. This is real tom yam! Taking sour and spicy to perfection, the soup brings the fresh ingredients inside to a heavenly dish. Eat it with rice and bam! There goes!
PAD THAI IDR 55K
Stir fried rice noodle with shrimps, eggs, tomatoes, bean sprouts and chives.
Thai style fried rice-noodles. You'll realize that they use a different type of noodles. Firstly, despite this one is rice-based, this doesn't taste like Indonesian rice vermicelli or Korean glass noodles. This gives a flavor similar to Chinese kwetiauw. Tastes good although it's not as strong as the Chinese version. You'd naturally compare them since they're both similar, but actually they're different in style.
NEUA YANG IDR 98K
Grilled Australian rib eye, seasoned with Thai herbs and served with spicy sauce.
Thin sliced of amazingly tender meat with strong taste! You might also be familiar to this one, since it's really similar to Dendeng and like Dendeng, this one also goes perfectly with rice. Delicious!
PLA KAPONG MANAOW IDR 239K
Steamed whole bass fish with fresh lime juice and chili sauce.
Super big portion of fish soup! Though the big size, I still can't get enough of the soft fish and it's sour soup, almost taste like tom yum without it's spiciness. Most of Thai soups I've ever tried are always sour and a little bit spicy, I'm guessing this is because they used various herbs and spices. Their soups are always refreshing!
SEAFOOD PLATTER
I'm lost for words on this huge platter.. It might even be enough for 5 people, like a seafood version of Tumpeng! Perfect for a seafood party for all of you seafood lovers!
PLAMED TOD NGA IDR 39K
Sesame fried squid.
Everyone's favorite fried dish when it comes to seafood!
PLAMEK YANG IDR 65K
Charcoal grilled squid with lime, garlic, and seafood sauce.
Really fresh squid, doesn't smell fishy at all with the help of the lime. Maybe cause it's in a platter but I think it's too under-seasoned! Could be perfect if they provided a separate seafood sauce for dipping!
SOM TAM IDR 39K
Spicy papaya salad.
Wasn't in the mood for salads so I also didn't try this one, but I bet it tastes sweet and sour with crunchy green papaya and fresh prawn, refreshing!
GOONG PAO IDR 99K
Charcoal grilled king prawn with garlic sauce.
Grilled prawn that's a bit under-seasoned in my opinion. If this was ordered in a ala carte, it comes with a garlic sauce, but since this was a platter, I guess the garlic sauce was already smeared on the prawn, though you can barely taste it.
MAN CHAM IDR 39K
Cooked tapioca in syrup topped with coconut cream.
Simple steamed cassava covered in syrup with sweet and salty coconut cream. Heavennn!!! The texture of the cassava was so soft as if it melts inside your mouth, and what makes it perfect is the coconut cream. Sweettt!!
KHAO NIEW MAMUANG IDR 42K
Thai mango with sweet organic glutinous rice, served with coconut milk.
Here's my FAVORITE! It was just soooo goood! One of the best mango sticky rice I've ever had! They have the best, sweetest mango and chewy, sweet sticky rice with sweet coconut cream! Heavenly combination!!!
There's not much authentic Thai restaurants here and even lesser good ones, so I'm glad to finally get to try a decent one! Though there're still a few things to be improved, they already did a pretty nice job!
Thai Alley
Gandaria City
Ground Floor, South Lobby
Jl. Sultan Iskandar Muda
(021) 29008038
Opening Hours :
Everyday : 11:00 am - 10:00 pm
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