Grand Siam - RK Salai *A CFG Showcase*

The 2nd Thursday of the year 2013 comes and like a well practiced drill exercise, CFG bloggers & photographers assemble at the venue of our next showcase event. This time the CFG Showcase was at the recently opened branch of Grand Siam at RK Salai. Having already been to Grand Siam on an earlier occasion and being really impressed with their food and service, was eagerly looking forward to this showcase. As I had to drive down straight from work, I reached Grand Siam much much earlier than the rest of the folks. It was a matter of fact that I was even earlier than most of their staffs not that their staffs were late but I was there by 6 PM. Having a lot of time to spare, I began wandering around the restaurant looking at the intricate interiors that made the restaurant and also the tremendous seating that they had. A short glimpse at the kitchen revealed that they took cooking serious as the kitchen was very neat and organized. Maybe the training passed down the generations as the current chef is the 4th generation in the business. Chef Murali and his brother Jegadish run the restaurant under the guidance of their father who is also a renowned Chef in the industry. 

Slowly as the pack started to arrive, we were served up with the welcome drinks. A fancy looking drink was brought up to us and we were all excited to see a Shark stirrer in the drink. Well for the drink itself, it was a  fizzy drink made up of 7-up and some strawberry crush at the bottom. Although nothing superficial about the drink, it was more of a passable welcome drink. The drink was followed by the traditional Thai way of welcoming diners, the Mein Kheim. Nothing could really go wrong with this as it can be customized to your preferences. 

(Welcome Drink)

(Mein Khem)

The next up was the Tom Yum Goong, which is the famous Tom Yum Prawn soup. Having enjoyed the soup the last time I was here, I personally felt the soup this time to be a bit too hot while at the same time a little more diluted than usual. Would have really loved it if they had the same consistency. This was followed up with the starters. To my surprise, the starters were cleverly planned out and everyone was served with an assorted platter of either Non Veg or Veg starters. The Non Veg starters had the renowned Gai Hor Baiteay, Fish Satay and Grilled Prawns. The Gai Hor Baiteay or better known as Chicken wrapped in Pandan leaf was full of flavors and tasted great when hot. Some fellow CFGians felt the chicken to be a bit hard but I guess it could be attributed to the chicken going cold as we bloggers spend more time clicking pictures than that of actually eating. The Fish Satay was neat and what mattered the most to me was the smell of seafood was not there. The Grilled Prawns were full of flavor and grilled to perfection but at the same time it raised a lot of questions too. Was it really a Thai dish as most of them felt it to be very similar to our very known tandoori prawns. The offerings on the vegetable lovers received a much controversial ratings. As I did not taste the vegetarian starters when they were hot, I honestly will not be able to tell about their flavors and will have to go with the reviews of my peers. The veg platter had Corn Tartlets, Spring Rolls and Grilled Mushrooms. The Grilled Mushrooms was the most controversial with almost everyone having the same opinion that the mushroom didn't seem fresh. Not to forget, the yummiest raw mango salad that was served with both the platters.

(Tom Yum Goong)

(Non Veg Starter Platter)

(Veg Starter Platter)

Once the starters and relevant discussions were over, the mains started to arrive. We were first dished up with Bamme Phad Prik which was a variant of the noodles family. This was followed up with the Battered Fish in sauce and Burmese Chicken curry. The noodles with the battered fish in sauce was a good combination and had a balance of flavors which was not the case when the noodles were had on their own. Just as I was wondering what the Burmese Chicken curry was doing with a rice, the waiter brought in the much hyped about rice dish in Thai cuisine, the Jasmine Rice. I must say and this was also the opinion of most of the peers during the evening that the Burmese Chicken curry was the star dish. It was perfectly flavored and had nice juicy and tender pieces of chicken in them. But yet again it raises the question as to how is it associated with Thai cuisine. 

(Noodles)

(Battered Fish in sauce)

(Burmese Chicken Curry)

(Jasmine Rice)

When it was time for the desserts, as anticipated we were served with the famous Thai dessert, the Tub Tim Grob. Well nothing much to talk about this amazing dish as there is virtually nothing that could go wrong. I felt it was the same as the last time I was here and they have maintained their consistency on it. 

(Tub Tim Grob; Picture from earlier visit))

Although the showcase event did not wow the CFGians at that evening, I'm sure Grand Siam has a much better offering since they did infact send me home with a Big WOW factor the first time I dined in here. Albeit some small tweaking's on the service front and on the flavors, they can still give a good competition to other Thai stand-alone restaurants in the city. 

They are soon going to introduce a set menu and some of the offerings in the showcase was part of it. For more on my earlier experience at Grand Siam, visit Grand Siam - RK Salai

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Grand Siam - RK Salai

As the weekend approached, it was decided to hit a Thai restaurant for the Saturday dinner. With many options now available for Thai cuisine in Chennai, we decided to try the newly opened ‘Grand Siam’ at RK Salai. Being a regular at another Thai stand-alone restaurant, we were pretty apprehensive about trying a new place but having sampled Chef Murali’s produce at his other restaurant ‘CHAO’, I thought the gamble could play out well. Indeed, it did excel our expectations.

Knowing it was a Saturday evening and restaurants in Chennai can get crowded, we arrived promptly at the time we had made our reservations. The front-house was very welcoming and the interiors were given an oriental touch with loads of wooden furniture’s and wood carvings. An enormous Buddha fountain statue welcomed us into the dining area. 

The menu card was promptly placed on the table and the opening page had a very interesting story about how Thai cuisine and Indian cuisine have so much in common and so on. It talked about the history and ancient kingdoms which were responsible for the similarities in both the cuisines. The menu was exhaustive and was intricately detailed in what the dish constituted. This I feel is very important in oriental restaurants mainly because most of the dishes are described by their original names which can get us really confusing on what the dish comprises of.

First to hit the table was “Mien Khem”. Though have had this several times at other Thai restaurants, never knew the reason behind why it was served first. Upon enquiry, I was told by Chef Murali that, it is the Thai tradition of welcoming guests for food. It consists of all 5 flavours that are used in Thai cuisine. This was followed by the family’s all-time favourite Thai soup, “Tom Yum” soup. As usual, they had ordered the “Tom Yum Goong”, where ‘Goong’ means ‘Prawn”. The soup was extremely authentic and had a perfect blend of spices. Most of the times I have had this at other places, it is either too peppery that my eyes turn watery or it is bland with no spiciness at all. But it was just perfect to my liking this time.

(Mein Khem)

(Tom Yum Goong)

Following the soup, our next order came in. Called “Pla Tod Samunp”, it was a Raw Pumpkin salad served with dry fish cakes. The salad was both juicy as well as crunchy while the fish cakes had a tinge of the fish smell on it. I personally am not a fan of the fish variety in sea food mainly because of the smell associated with it. Due to this, I had to ignore the fish cakes while the salad was sumptuous. 

(Pla Tod Samunp)

Once the soup and salads were served, we were then dished up with the starters of the evening. We once again went with an all-time favourite starter, the “Gai Hor Baiteay”. This is a very common delicacy in Thai cuisine and is most often served either in chicken or fish. This time around we had gone in for the chicken version. The chicken is first fried and is then wrapped in Pandan leaves, and cooked. The dish is served with the leaves still wrapped over the meat to ensure the complete flavouring is infused into the chicken. The chicken was juicy, moist and had almost no oil residual on it. The next starter was “Pu-Nim Tod Nam”, which was a first time order amongst the family. It was a dish that was suggested to us by the manager and decided to go for it. It was a Soft Shell Crab cooked in a Spicy Chilli Paste. Having heard of a soft shell crab for the first time, was anxious to know if it can be eaten directly with the shell. I was reassured that it can definitely be. Immediately after my first mouthful, my verdict was out. It was just too good to be described. Never knew soft shell crabs were such a delight to the taste buds. Though they tasted similar to chicken, you could still make out a distinctive taste as you bite in the shells. The spicy paste was indeed a bit spicy but added to the overall glory of the dish.

(Gai Hor Baiteay)

(Pu-Nim Tod Nam)

With the starters done, we decided to go light on the mains. We ordered the “Jungle Fried Rice”, which we knew needed no sides as the rice itself would be packed with loads of flavours. It was as expected, the rice was indeed full of flavours and really kept up our expectations. It wasn’t too chilly unlike the previous time I had it at another place. We were also served with a Stir Fry Vegetable, complimentary courtesy Chef Murali, which livened up the flavourings of the Jungle Fried Rice. 

(Jungle Fried Rice)

(Stir Fry Vegetables)

Next on the table was the dessert. When it comes to desserts, it is always a riot ordering them. I often end up finding many a desserts that I would like to taste but eventually have to settle at the best choice at that moment. This time it was the regular “Tub Tim Grob” and the new try at Grand Siam, the “Shankhaya Fakthong”. For those who are not familiar with “Tub Tim Grob”, it is a must try at any Thai restaurant. It is basically Water Chestnuts soaked in Coconut Milk and chilled. No one can stop with just one serving. The other dessert of the day, the ‘Shankhaya Fakthong’ was a pumpkin custard served with Coconut Ice cream atop it. The pumpkin custard was more like a rocky road. It had a mixed texture of both crunchiness and smoothness. Overall it made a great combination together with the Coconut Ice Cream which tasted really fresh. 

(Tub Tim Grob)

(Shankhaya Fakthong)

Having tasted at many other Thai restaurants in Chennai, I personally feel Grand Siam is a good competitor to most of them. With regards to their pricing, they seem to be a tad lower priced in comparison to the other restaurants in their league. The evening dinner bill for the two of us was around ₹ 2200/-.

Overall, if you feel jaded with the same Thai restaurant you have been visiting for a couple of years now, Grand Siam can be a good alternate and is a must visit at least once.

Grand Siam is located at RK Salai (Cathedral Road, under the Mylapore Flyover) and in Anna Nagar (Behind Yesses Super Market).

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