Lanna Thai

> Location : Shop # 1101, 11/F, Times Square, 1 Mantheson St.,
Causeway Bay, Hong Kong
> Cuisine : Thai
> Tel. # : (852) 2506-3303
> Website : N/A

Wow simon, thai cuisine again? haha. well, i wanted to try this neat place where they serve malaysian food and you eat it on a banana leaf. however, my brother brought up this new thai restaurant inside times square so i decided on that! wow simon, still, it's thai! see, the thing is, this place only opened for like about 2 months and hell, i haven't found any english friendly reviews online of it, so i have to be the first one to put one up!

lanna thai is located within times square on the 11th floor. yes, one above modern china restaurant! speaking of "modern," when you first enter lanna thai, the decoration is especially modern yet you get this very high class feeling as you walk to your seat. the atmosphere is slightly dimmed with different colored lighting on certain walls giving it a very layback mood. high class indeed, the menu tells you that this place isn't particularly cheap. here's a good comparison. their appetizer costs just as much as a regular dish at most standard chinese restaurant. about ranging around $60 to $80 hkd. their entrees are around $100 (some are a bit less) all the way up to $200 hkd so. usually cost justifies the quality and at this place, it definitely does that! yes, the cliche, "you get what you pay for" comes to mind. food wise, the following on the different sections of the menu: grill, sharkfin and soup, meat and poultry, seafood, curry, vegetable, noodle, rice, salad and dessert.

first up, hey what's new? haha, it's tom yum kong with chicken (this place spells it with the "k" and some places use "g"). the last three thai places, the menu only indicated with prawn and this place, you had the choice of both! tired of prawns, i went back to the old fashion chicken tom yum kong. one thing i must say is, the waitress' will warn you with specific orders, that the item is originally spicy unless request to lighten the spiciness. this place's "normal" spiciness is hotter than the last three places i went to (thai simple kitchen, chili n spice, cafe siam). it's not too bad if you eat spicy stuff once in awhile. for people who don't too often, it will be somewhat difficult. so request them to lighten it if you can't take the heat! besides the replacement of prawns with chicken, the ingredients within the tom yum kong are pretty much the same. the one thing that was different from what i usually experience is the addition of bean sprouts. it makes the soup more crowded but i don't think it does much to the taste. essentially, an additional vegetable for you to eat. soup wise, spicy as i've hinted. it doesn't seem to be very sour. perhaps the extra spiciness neutralizes your senses to make you think it isn't too sour. still, you can definitely pick up the sourness from the lemon juice and lemon grass. the chicken was nice and soft, easy to eat. this tom yum kong definitely has its own unique position from the other reviews i've done. these exceptions are rather hard to explain until you really try it yourself! $48 hkd for chicken per person and $52 hkd for prawn per person.

next up, we have the green papaya & beef strip salad with chilli & fresh coriander ($75 hkd). this thai papaya salad is like a fusion between thai beef salad and thai papaya salad. one thing that catches your attention is the rawness of the slides of beef. seemingly not cooked long enough, the beef is about medium rare or about a tiny bit less and just cooked just right. it has the roasted flavor to it which is really good. fried wanton strips (the like) is added giving this salad a chinese chicken salad look to it. with lettuce as the base, the green papaya is set on top of. the papaya is very crisp and fresh. the sour, slight sweetness from the lime juice and fish sauce (fish sauce is added in a lot of these sour tasting thai dishes) within the green papaya along with the roasted sensation of the beef with the crispy fried strips give every bite a mouthful of sensation. forgetting to mention, crushed peanuts are also spread slightly into the salad giving another thing for your mouth to register. an extremely well put combination. it is not your usual thai papaya salad with carrot strips and cherry tomatoes (the traditional version can be ordered), but it is still a very well done dish!

satay chicken! no, i lied. haha. but it's a fusion dish up next. hai nan chicken in bangkok style ($128 hkd). so basically, hai nan chicken is a malaysian highlight. it is steamed chicken served with chili or grinded ginger and onion oil sauce along with rice that is cooked with garlic, oil (or chicken fat) and some chicken broth. definitely a simple yet really good experience. so what's different with bangkok style? according to the waitress, the chicken is spiced with thai style ingredients and on the side, served with this sour and spicy sauce. usually, hai nan chicken steamed is a pale yellowish texture on the skin. lanna thai's bangkok style holds a golden brown texture on the skin most likely due to its marinade and spices. the taste difference is that, i think the bangkok style has more define taste to it and not extremely dependent on the chili or ginger sauce in malaysian style. along with the spicy and sour sauce provided, lanna thai's hai nan chicken was definitely very unique. i think this dish is a good twist but not superb. the chicken itself was done very well, holding a tender texture. cucumber and red pepper base/decoration was used along with some side lettuce garnishes. overall, the tenderness of the chicken, the more define taste due to the spcies along with a hot and sour sauce makes this dish a definite order choice.

you can't leave a thai place until you have some sauteed thai vegetables! i got a good kick out of thai baby cabbage from chili n spice last time so i had to go with more cabbages this time! at lanna's, they didn't have any baby cabbage. however, their cabbage still isn't huge and not too far from baby size. one of the cabbage dish they have is the sauteed bamboo fungus, mixed mushrooms & cabbage sprout ($85 hkd). like always, you get the usual thai sauteed vegetable flavor like with morning glory. however, this particular dish is designed to be more light and refreshing so the sauteed flavor isn't as strong but still noticeable. usual sauteed flavors come with shrimp paste or bean curb paste so it's more salty. in the end, this is a standout dish from all the spicy, sour and sweet flavors.

last but not least, is my favorite dish next to the papaya salad dish. cod fish with red curry ($118 hkd). of course not just curry and fish, there's also red and green bell pepper, onions, thai green eggplants and squash along with some spices that look like vegetables, but are just there for the taste and looks. just a little additional information, when you think eggplants, it isn't just the long purple looking vege. egg plants also come in small round shapes like a golf ball! thai green eggplants is a green and golf ball size vege. sorta reminds you of a cherry tomato but green. anyways! there's about three good size cod's in this dish so don't worry about the lack of meat in this dish, heh. the red curry is nice and rich holding a very pleasant sweet taste. the dish isn't as spicy as the other ones i mentioned, just having a mild spiciness to it. if you've eaten cod fish before, you know it's really hard to cook it wrong. cod fish has a very easy to bite into texture in short or longer cooking time and usually holds a very distinct taste even with little marinade before cooking. due to the eating friendly nature of this fish along with the rich and tasty red curry, these two things end up going hand in hand making this a very wonderful and visual friendly dish (colorful, contrast). definitely three thumbs up if i had a third thumb. haha.

so finally, the end of this review! let me take a breather now, haha. before i give a score, i also want to mention about service. the waitress' and waiters were overall very helpful. the manager that night was also very helpful with various random questions i asked him about the restaurant. price wise, i must say it's not cheap. the taste, decoration, presentation of the dishes does justify the price for the most part. i just believe if you pick the right places, you can probably find matching quality dishes for a cheaper price. chances of doing so are probably slim and even if you do, not every dish you order can be as consistent as a place like lanna thai. one thing i want to bring to light is that, a lot of thai restaurants i go to around hong kong don't use the official thai name for some of the dishes. i mean, i understand it is hard to know what exactly it is if you've never ordered it before or don't read the language. however, you can always put the description right below it to clarify things. it is more friendly to experienced and native people to the cuisine and also adds an informative/intriguing look to the menu for first timers and such. on the side, i also got one of their desserts. it's a coconut jelly dessert which comes in six pieces. not much i can say beisdes that, it's a nice addition to the lineup! anyhow, so what's my final take?

< 4 1/2 out of 5 >