Ah Loy Thai at Shaw Tower remains, without a doubt, my top favourite for Thai food in Singapore. The coveted first runner-up of this blog's 2009 round-up, Ah Loy Thai has continued to impress me with good food at very affordable and value-for-money prices. It's little wonder that this place is packed to the brim during meal times, and reservations are highly recommended for this small and humble eatery. I plan to put it to the test against Jai Thai soon, but for now Ah Loy reigns supreme, in my opinion at least. Following my favourable experience there last year, I am now back craving for more :)
Fried Glass Noodle with Seafood
This is definitely the best dish of the night. The noodles were adequately moist without being overly wet, and had a few juicy prawns and squids for that extra crunch. Tiny shrimps were spotted as well, perhaps from the minute hint of chilli "hae bee hiam" (spicy dried shrimp floss sambal) that Ah Loy adds in for good measure. Love this.
Phad Thai with Seafood
The quintessential Thai noodle dish was alright, but not impressive. Still, the sheer amount of prawns, fried eggs and diced toufu - mixed with all the dried chilli flakes and grated peanuts - was satisfying enough for any hungry eater.
Pineapple Fried Rice
A healthy portion of fried rice indeed, but I think the Tom Yum Fried Rice would fare better with that added spice and tom yum flavour. To be honest, my friend who had the pineapple fried rice commented that there wasn't much pineapple taste to it, was a tad too oily and in fact, had a little too much MSG in it as well. Ah Loy may just have taken the easy way out with the pineapple flavouring, so I think.
Seafood Tom Yum Soup
What's going to a Thai diner and not having tom yum soup? The soup here had a good balance of sour and spicy, and the serving of mushrooms and seafood ingredients was pretty generous given the relatively low $5.50 price tag.
Mango Crispy Chicken
Ah Loy Thai has quite a variety of side dishes too, like this crispy chicken that's cooked with sweet chilli and mango slices. This was not too bad, a tad sweet, but it would go well with your fried rice or noodles.
Pandan Chicken
Singaporeans like to order this in most Thai eateries I realise. Deep-fried chicken chunks wrapped in pandan leaves for that hint of pandan flavour and more so, aroma. I especially like the ones served here because the chicken pieces were tender and marinated well.
Fried Calamari
More deep-fried goodness. The calamari rings came in a sizeable portion and were nicely crisp without being too oily. Good, light batter used.
Fried Toufu
I like the addition of sweet chilli to the soft toufu, but the batter is too light for it to be crispy. A good example of a crispy "outside" (and smooth, soft inside) would be the fried toufu from Thai Noodle House near Coronation Plaza, along Bukit Timah Road.
Remember to have some sweet Thai Iced Tea (a more ice-blended variant is offered here) or sour Kumquat Juice to both whet your appetite and accompany your meal. All-in-all, a most satisfying dinner at Ah Loy Thai with nods of approval (and full tummies) all around the table. To those snobs who think good food has to come with a high price tag, I'd say either think again or continue to live in ignorance (or, beg for more free tastings). Ah Loy Thai is great stuff and it surely is here to stay :)
Service
Good. Better if they set the dishes on the table gently.
Price
$5.00 for the fried glass noodles with seafood
$4.50 for the phad thai with seafood
$4.50 for the pineapple rice
$5.50 for the tom yum soup
$5.90 for the mango crispy chicken
$6.50 for the pandan chicken
$5.90 for the fried calamari
$5.00 for the fried toufu
$1.30 for thai iced tea
$1.30 for kumquat juice
Newsflash! 10 April 2010 Someone alerted me that Ah Loy Thai has raised prices by about $1 after its latest renovations! Guess decorating the place has to be paid by the customers :(
Place
Shaw Towers (Beach Road), #01-39/40.
Opposite Tom's Palette.
Pictures taken with the Canon EOS 500D.
