The buzz: Here comes the EAT squad, whose involvement in Minibar's various incarnations, Supanniga and Groove's EAT makes them seasoned pros when it comes to churning out a restaurant. We have to point out that they had a stint in Central Embassy's food court, so to see them open shop here at Emquartier, is rather interesting for those following the Central versus Mall Group luxury showdown. Enough gossip. Let's eat. The food here is even simpler and more street-style than at the Groove address. Basically, you pick a protein, a carb, you tell them how you want it cooked--just like at your average ahaan tam sang stall.
The decor: What decor? You're in a mall's basement. There's a lot of blonde wood furntiture, there are some awnings to ram home the whole street food concept, and that's about it. To be fair, the variety of stalls and restaurants in Emquartier's basement makes for a rather lively setting--no sad food court vibes here.
The food: The lazy can just pick out classics from the picture menu: fried chicken wings (B120), fried spring rolls (B150), "premium seafood" with curry (B350), Thai french beef in oyster sauce and mushrooms (B195) or colossal crabmeat pad Thai (B345). But the more adventurous will attempt to creat their dish using the meal-in-a-kit menu. First, pick your veggies, meat or fish, from B125 for vegetables and B135 for chicken, all the way to B345 for sea prawns, a mix of seafood or the aforementioned crab. Pick from a selection of rice, brown rice, five types of noodles (including some scrumptious deep-fried ones) or even crispy shrimp wonton (which are an extra B50). Specify your favorite spice level. And throw in a fried egg (B15), omelet (B25) or salted fried egg (B30). This is where you have to know Thai food because you then have to specify how you want it cooked: pad ka prao (stir-fried with holy basil), tom yam, tod kratiam prik Thai (pepper and garlic), etc.
The drinks: Water and beer (from B95).
The crowd: Mall-goers who want good, affordable Thai food instead of pretending they're in Paris or London.
