HEAVENLY THAI

Want to know how to dine, have a cup of designer coffee and catch a movie for less than RM10? I did just that last night.

Yesterday, sexy Sharon decided to pop for a visit to KL. So she called me and WY up for dinner at Mid Valley since she is staying in Cititel with her husband and two children for the week.

Boring old Mid Valley. What is nice there anyway? The only place that I frequent for my meals there is probably Little Penang where they serve my favorite Devil’s curry.

“Let’s go for Thai food!” exclaimed Sharon. She is a fan of everything spicy, sour and hot. Tom Yam Goong fits the picture perfectly.

She suggested that we go to Amarin. I haven’t heard of this place. Sounds exotic and freaking expensive. It was situated just above Madam Kwan.

I love Thai food. But since I returned from Hadyai a few years ago, I cannot seem to find an authentic Tom Yam which could replace the heavenly one that I had there – the sister of Tom Yam – Kheng Som. Only hotter, spicier and send your tongue into a temporary paralysis within 2 spoonfuls. The next best authentic Thai food I had since was in Burmah Square, Penang – a small resident restaurant, run by a lovely lady, Sandy, Party Girl’s friend.

From the outside, Amarin looks quite intimidating because only two tables were occupied. Since both of us (WY and me) were broke to our very last penny, (me – partying too much and other family commitments, WY – sister’s wedding – she had to look her best, too) we decided to play safe by checking out the prices on the menu before entering. It was surprisingly alright. We asked for a table for four.

The ambience is cozy. Very exotic and the staff are friendly. A Malay chap was assigned to us. Sharon joined us soon with her pretty Kelantanese friend, SY.

As usual, I, being the Glutton Goddess, Sharon let me have a say on the dishes to order, even if I haven’t been to this place before in my life. A tip for ordering in a new place – go for anything recommended (they are either marked with an asterix, a star or in this place – a heart shape). Prices range from RM8 to RM45 per dish. The Tom Yam comes in one serving for individual person but you can actually share one serving of tom yam if you are a small eater.

We were surprised by the appetizer: Mieng Kum. At first, we didn’t even know what to do with the leaves. Are we supposed to eat it? Is this a sirih leaf?? But where is the pinang?? Is this a decoration?? Can we ask for help? In order not to look like sua goos, WY braved it by taking charge of the situation. This is the good thing about WY, she is always the one in control of things.

All of us followed. The appetizer is amazingly delicious. It comes with 7 fillings –finely chopped ginger, lime, dried coconuts, peanuts, chilli padi, onions and dried shrimps. The oomph thingy about this dish is the sauce that comes along with it. We could only identify: there are peanuts, coconut and red sugar in it but the staff subtly refused to let us know the exact ingredients in the sauce as they said, this dish is the best kept trade secret of this restaurant.

The rest of the dishes: green curry, mango kerabu (my mother makes better kerabu), snow peas with shrimps, two servings of tom yam goong (for me and WY) and one serving of tom yam talay for Sharon. I have found the tom yam that I wanted since Hadyai. It’s here in Amarin. The authentic Thai Tom Yam comes in clear soup rather than red colored. Tom Yam Talay is quite spicy and hot. When the Chilli Padi queen (yours truly) say, spicy, it is really spicy. Not for thin tongues and faint hearted.

SY ordered special Thai drinks – which look exactly like the three-colored tea I had in Kuching earlier this year. Taste like teh tarik though. Not much of the winter melon taste.

All in all, I guess this would be the next best Thai place that I would go to, besides traveling north to Sandy’s place in Penang or Hadyai for that matter.

The bill? RM131 for 6 dishes and 4 drinks. Not too bad. And the best part is, Sharon decided to buy us dinner to celebrate WY’s belated birthday.

After dinner, we went to Coffee Bean while waiting for the uncollected reserve seats to release for The Exorcism of Emily Rose. Since WY has two free vouchers for drinks, we only top up RM1 to upsize the ice blended Black Forest Mocha. We bought Sharon a drink to thank her for our heavenly Thai dinner.

As we were at the cinema, lining up at the ticketing counter, Lady Lucky smiled at us again when a stranger asked me if I would like to have 4 free tickets. I was dumbfounded as it was too good to be true. Seeing my jaw dropped, WY quickly thanked the man and took the free vouchers. They are valid for 4 movie passes – any movies. Wow! We couldn’t believe our luck. We managed to get the best seats. Thank you, stranger!

The Exorcism of Emily Rose is based on a true story. As much as I fear watching horror movies – I still wanted so bad to watch this one. I would worry about it later, even if I had to sleep throughout the entire night with the lights on.

RM10? You gotta have a generous friend, a resourceful friend with abundant free vouchers and sheer good luck.