Okay… let’s be honest: Thai cuisine is among the best in the world. Particularly – this has to be stressed – those that were not sanitized to please foreigners’ palates. But this is also why it’s tricky when you look for Thai food outside of Thailand since you’re bound to get something that claims to be Thai, and yet not taste Thai at all.
And so we checked Soi Chicken in Mall of Asia in Pasay City. This is one of a handful of Thai restos in MOA, including Jatujak and Soi.
@outragemag #thaifood craving in #MetroManila? We checked out #SoiChicken in #Pasay for this #LGBTQ #foodtrip
So… how was it for us?
Una, the place itself was not bad – e.g. it was clean, walang sirang furniture, Thai-inspired decoration, et cetera. Yeah, the music playing wasn’t Thai or even Thai-inspired, but at least the overall vibe was.
Ikalawa, the place was not THAT busy. At least when we went there, past lunch time, it was more empty than full.
Ikatlo, even if there weren’t a lot of customers, service was still slow. Don’t get me wrong: the staff was nice. They were chatty. They provided you what you needed. Et cetera. But… they weren’t always there. As example: I had to stand to ask for the bill.
And lastly, the food was… okay. But – take note – hindi siya memorable.
- We started with Som Tum (papaya salad with salted egg, ₱295), which tasted like it needed more palm sugar and lime. The addition of the salted egg was inspired, though, making this special.
- The Pad Thai Soi (₱495) was not bad, too. But it was not as flavorful, either. It was almost like the chef wanted to be safe… which sadly deprived us of the flavors we were looking for. But at least the noodles weren’t overcooked, and there was acceptable amount of sahog, considering its price.
- The Tom Yum (₱485) was, perhaps, what disappointed Arthur most. Again, this wasn’t bad; you can tell that they didn’t use powder, but prepped this fresh. But it tasted… kulang/lacking – e.g. of lemongrass, and galangal. BTW: We ordered Jasmine Rice (₱69) but ended up not eating it.
- For dessert, we grabbed the Black Gulaman with Gata (which sounds more Filipno than Thai, we know; ₱225) that tasted like macapuno ice cream with gulaman pieces.
But you could all try for yourself, if you want.
But for us: babalikan anytime soon? Not really.
In the end: Yep, it IS hard to look for good Thai resto in Metro Manila… or even in nearby provinces. But we continue looking anyway. So come join us look for more good lafang places.
Soi Chicken is located at the ground level of North Galleon Bldg., MOA Eats, SM Mall of Asia in Pasay City.
