Wifely Steps

If you love Thai food, you have to check out the Thai Food Festival at the Mandarin Oriental. The spread is phenomenal and oooh, you’re gonna tear up either from sheer gustatory happiness or from the trademark spiciness of Thai cuisine. Sharing with you ten highlights of my Thai Food Festival dinner!

#1: Let’s start with the best highlight — meeting Chef Sumet! Chef Sumet is The Oriental, Bangkok’s Executive Thai Sous Chef and culinary ambassador. It was fantastic talking about Thai food with him. He shared insights into the healthiness of Thai food and how distinct this cuisine is, herbs, spices and all. We also exchanged a few laughs over how he is sometimes mistaken as Filipino here in Manila, and I shared how I am also mistaken for a Thai when I’m in Bangkok. He was very warm and accommodating. Super nice guy.

#2: Thod Mun Pla Khai Kem / Deep-fried fish patties with salted egg. These bite-sized babies were very flavorful. H & I topped this with chili sauce and didn’t talk much for the rest of the appetizer round.

#3: Gai Yaang/ Grilled marinated chicken skewer. I wasn’t in the mood for chicken but tried this anyway. Good thing I decided to take a few bites as I really liked this appetizer! The chicken was very tender and tasted really good.

#4: Yaam Talay / Spicy Seafood Salad. It wasn’t as rich as the rest of the appetizers — and that’s a good thing! After the explosion of flavors from the first two, this seafood salad calmed down and refreshed our palate.

#5: Thai Iced Tea. Cold, creamy and not too sweet, this drink was the perfect complement to the buffet. It helped cut down the spiciness and my tongue was grateful for that. Whew.

#6: Tom Kha Gai / Herbed Coconut Milk Soup with Chicken and Galangal. I was looking forward to trying out Tom Yum Goong, but it wasn’t part of the menu that evening. Awwww. This was the Thai soup of the night. I didn’t like it very much only because it had chicken, but I did want to try something new. At least I know how it tastes now.

#7: Pla Raad Prig Sam Ros / Fried Fish with trio flavoured chili sauce. My favorite main course of the night. The fish just melts in your mouth while the chilis do a little jazz. Deeeelish.

#8: The Thai Desserts. Prepare yourself for coconut overload, as almost all the desserts had coconut milk in it. I enjoyed the Woon Gathi Gub Gafae (Coconut agar-agar with coffee flavour) the most. I didn’t expect it to have such a kick! That coffee surprised me. Caffeine-holics will like this. The rest of the desserts were okay. Don’t forget to put ice in your Ploy Grob (Chilled water chestnut jewels in coconut syrup). It’s like a Pinoy halo-halo. The Sangkhaya Fug Thong (Steamed Pumpkin Custard) was also so-so, I wish there was more of a pumpkin taste to it and less coconut. The Khow Niew Mamuang (Sticky Rice with Mango) was really enjoyable. The rice was sweet and just the right amount of sticky! Yum.

#9: Khow Ob Sabparos / Baked Fried Rice with Chicken, Pork Sausage and Pineapple. This was so good! While the rich viands are probably best paired with jasmine rice, I just had to go for the baked rice. The aroma was so inviting! When you put a spoonful in your mouth, the flavors are very subtle but after a while, they start taking you by surprise. One of the best highlights of my dinner at the food fest.

#10: Going “Pttttthhhhhhh” several times over dinner. You know how you gently blow air from your mouth after you eat something spicy? My companions and I took turns going “pttthhh” and taking long sips of water and iced tea. But that didn’t stop us from enjoying our dinner!

Dinner was faaab. Diets were thrown out the window that evening. H & I talked about planning a trip to Thailand again, and this food festival just inspired us to fast-track those plans. We both really love that country, so this food festival was a great way to reconnect with it again somehow.

The Thai Food Festival at the Mandarin Oriental runs till June 20. It’s available at Paseo Uno during lunch and dinner at P1,550 net. There’s also an ongoing raffle! If you win, you get a free trip and stay at The Oriental, Bangkok. Ooooh. I want to win! Heehee.