Event: Chang Sensory Trails 2018 (Thai Food Festival)
Date: 31 August 2018 to 1 September 2018
Time: 4.00pm to 10.00pm
Venue: The Lawn @ Marina Bay
Chang Sensory Trails is the annual Thai food festival organised by Thailand's leading beer brand, Chang (pronounced as "Zhang") Beer. This is its 3rd year in Singapore, and what should you be keeping a lookout for, besides Chang Beer?
Well, how about 24 signature Thai dishes offered by 8 Singapore-based Thai restaurants, to tantalise your palate? The participating restaurants are (in alphabetical order):
- Aroy Dee
- Baan Ying
- Bangkok Jam
- Gin Khao
- Little Elephant Thai Bistro
- Long Chim
- Tamarind Hill
- Un-Yang-Kor-Dai
This event serves to bring about the culture of "
Lamiat" across the world - attention to details and looking beyond the ordinary, even in something as simple as culinary experience. Thai cuisine demonstrates a deep form of Lamiat, through the use of many different spices, herbs and ingredients - Thai Food Festival strives to bring the real and natural flavours Thai cuisine outside of Thailand. Besides delectable dishes, there are also illustrations by Singapore Illustrator Galatik Captain found on booth walls, as well as amazing performance by local bands
O.K. Ready and
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As a little teaser, we shall unravel our culinary experience at one of the participating outlets, a 3-month old restaurant Little Elephant Thai Bistro, located at Tiong Bahru area. One of the co-founders, Alfred, sources for all the restaurant decor from Thailand, giving it an authentic local-Thai feel, stopping time for us when we stepped in.
Little Elephant Thai Bistro
Address: 57 Eng Hoon Street, #01-72 Singapore 160057 (beside Tiong Bahru Bakery)
Tel: 6224 1646
For Chang Sensory Trails, the 3 signature dishes they will be serving are:
- Grilled Pork Neck Salad (Nam Tok Kor Moo Yang) (SGD$13.00)
- interesting texture, nearly crunchy, with gentle tangy hints, served with raw vegetables such as long beans and cucumber slices.
- Grilled Pork Neck (Kor Moo Yang) (SGD$10.00)
- done "moo-ping" style, this grilled pork neck was chewy yet lent an edge of crisp unbeknownst to the palate, with tasty flavours exploding softly in the mouth.
- Stir-fried Sous Vide Beef with Holy Basil (Krapow Neua) (SGD$22.00)
- another flavorful dish with hints of spiciness, and very succulent (sous vide for 48 hrs) beef basking in aroma of basil's herbish notes.
We tried an assortment of other dishes this restaurant has to offer as well, starting with the
Vegetarian Spring Rolls aka
Poh Piah Tod (SGD$8.00) - crackling skin wrapped with a variety of vegetables such as turnip, etc; tastes good especially with the special homemade sauce served on the side.
Then there was the Stir-Fried Prawn in Yellow Curry Sauce (SGD$20.00), aka Phad Poong Karee, a lovely dish with big, fresh succulent prawns, yellow curry and peppers; mildly spicy.
Next, the Stir-Fried Salted Egg Squid (SGD$18.00), aka Pla Meuk Phad Kai Kem, localizing the taste so there was a good balance of umami and sweetness, over fresh, springy squid pieces.
Finally, a dish that one can't miss out on at any good Thai restaurant - Tom Yum with Prawns (SGD$15.00), one may choose from clear or creamy versions. Broth was thick enough but not overly so; palatable flavours with spiciness level toned down to match diners' preference, but one could always request for extra spiciness.
For drinks - besides Chang Beer, we also tried the Thai Iced Milk Tea (SGD$3.00) and Iced Bael Fruit Tea (SGD$3.00) - the latter held an interesting floral sweetness, a little like our Chinese "Luohan Guo" herbal drink (siraitia grosvenorii).
We left Little Elephant Thai Bistro with happy bellies and happier smiles - thank you Alfred and team for hosting us, as well as the team at Phish Communications for the invite!
Remember to mark your calendars for Thai Sensory Trails happening between 31 August 2018 - 1 September 2018, so you can try all these tantalising Thai dishes for yourselves!
