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Singapore, May 23, 2010- Soht & Baay, the Thai restaurant on the fourth and fifth floors of Ion Orchard, is one of the best-kept food secrets in Orchard Road. There has been little buzz about it since it opened last December and business was not exactly hopping the two times I dined there recently. But it serves some of the best and most authentic Thai seafood dishes in town. The only meat used in the kitchen is chicken, which is halal, but the restaurant itself is not halal-certified because it serves alcohol. Owner-chef Apasara, who goes by just one name, has 25 years’ experience running a Thai seafood restaurant called Kung Sod-Pu Pen on the shores of the Gulf of Thailand in Chonburi, which is south of Bangkok. With her new restaurant, she is transporting her skills to Singapore, where she is now based. But she keeps the flavours authentically Thai by importing most of her ingredients, such as prawns and abalone mushrooms, from her homeland. The mangoes she serves for dessert even come from her home garden in Chonburi, although she says with a laugh that the tree is running out of fruit quickly. All this attention to detail results in the best Thai seafood dishes I have eaten outside of Thailand. But the downside is that prices are greatly inflated compared to what you would pay in Thailand. Since now is not the time to travel to the country, that is moot. Among the many dishes that I love but wince at the price is the shredded morning glory with sweet basil, garlic and oyster sauce, which costs a whopping $20.90 for a serving enough for four people tops. It is, after all, just fried kangkong. But what a wonderful dish the chef has created out of such simple and cheap ingredients. Only the stems of the kangkong are used – finely shredded and stir-fried lightly, leaving the vegetable delightfully crunchy with the thin tendrils enveloped in a delicious garlicky sauce. Another must-order dish which is more reasonably priced is the charcoal grilled whole seabass with salt and lemongrass. It is priced at $7 per 100g, and the sizeable fish I had for four persons cost $56. The fish, which is covered in a thin layer of salt and chopped lemongrass, comes smoking hot. The skin is peeled off whole at the table to reveal the moist flesh inside. Eaten with an accompanying soya bean and chilli dip, it boasts a pure taste of the sea that is enhanced, not overpowered, by the dip. Chef Apasara also gives the classic tom yum kung soup (above) a refreshing twist. You can also find the traditional spicy version here but be adventurous and check out the more unusual tom yum kung maprao-an ($13.90 per person), which is cooked with the juice of a young coconut. The result is sweeter and less spicy than the classic version but no less delicious. Another piquant dish that is very well-done here is freshly steamed squid with fresh lime juice, chilli and coriander ($25.90). The recipe is similar to traditional Thai-style steamed fish with its sour-spicy soup but the chewy squid provides a very different mouthfeel. What I miss here are dishes cooked with meaty mud crabs such as the sinful but yummy curry crabs I have eaten in Bangkok. Only blue crabs from the Gulf of Thailand, which are not very meaty, are used here. But they have the sweetest juices, which I enjoy drinking from a dish of fresh blue crab cooked in coconut milk, tamarind, red onions and young chilli ($26.90). Just do not let it cool as it gets a bit fishy then. For dessert, you get the above-mentioned mangoes with sticky rice ($15.90), where the three balls of organic rice are coloured differently with ingredients such as beetroot and coffee. For something refreshing, the organic sea coconut in sweet syrup ($8.90) is ideal when the weather gets muggy outside. The sea coconut is fresh and soft, which is totally unlike the hard, preserved variety. The restaurant overlooks the junction of Orchard and Scotts roads but at night, the lights that give Ion its jewelled look get rather distracting as they abruptly change colours. The live pianist and singer in the fifth-floor main dining room are probably meant to enliven the place but they also drown out conversation. Also, it would perhaps be a better idea to have Thai music instead of American standards. If you are in a group and want to be away from these distractions, ask to be in one of the fourth-floor dining rooms. What else can the restaurant do to make itself more appealing? Cut its prices, of course. Shredded morning glory with sweet basil, garlic and oyster sauce ($20.90) I love the delightful crunch of the vegetable and the delicious sauce. The price should be cut though. SOHT & BAAY Tel: 6509-6058 Opening Hours: 11.30am to 3.00pm and 6.30 to 10.30pm (Mondays to Thursdays), 11.30am to 10.30pm (Fridays to Sundays) Food: **** Service: *** Ambience: *** Price: Budget from $70 a person
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Address: Ion Orchard 04-11/05-01, 2 Orchard Turn
