You don't find too many restaurants that offer thai tapas in such a stylish setting as Barn Thai. Step through the imposing front doors and be greeted right in the face by a gleaming gold stallion. That just about sets the tone for what lies ahead.
Plush vintage armchairs admist wooden stools and long tables; a large bar with an equally large selection of cocktails; piped in jazz music and wall prints; thai cultural decoratives and modern art. You get the idea? Wait, there's more. Cascading water feature on walls and a replica of a thai royal sitting chamber – in the ladies toilet.
Now that's what I call a watering hole worthy of the new generation of discerning consumers. Definitely not your neighbourhood family eatery. The entire area is SMOKING FRIENDLY, bucking the norm. They do have a smaller back section and private function rooms, partitioned off by auto sliding doors. The staff will graciously open up this section if you are like me – a non smoker with an extremely low tolerance to passive smoke, with 2 senior citizens, a young kid and a baby in tow.
As
for now, Barn Thai only offers thai tapas and a small selection of
hot one-plate meals. They are in the midst of hiring more serving
staff and beefing up the kitchen team before dinner menu can be
launched. No indication of specific timeline yet.
Expecting
dainty portions and feeling ravenous, we went rather overboard with
the ordering.
Top two photos : Seafood
Green Curry Burger and Chicken Red Curry Burger (both RM14 each).
These were real mini burgers – two bites and they were gone. The
chicken burger had a more pronounced curry bite, which I much
preferred over the seafood burger, which had no discernible curry
taste at all. The addition of cheese was totally unnecessary. The
side of fries was very good though, with a light sprinkling of salt
and chilli powder and spicy mayo dip.
Bottom photo: Crisy
Fried Tofu with Peanut Dip (RM12) – simple but satisfying.
Clockwise from left: Teochew porridge, Shrimp Tempura, Crab cakes |
Thai Teochew Porridge (RM18) with condiments of chicken floss, stir fry kailan with salted fish, stir fry chicken, preserved mustard and century egg with lime, fish sauce and chili. A mediocre assembly, with lukewarm plain porridge and somewhat bland condiments, the exception being the century egg – completely transformed and perked up with the fail-proof dressing of fish sauce, lime, sugar and chilli. I would have been totally happy with just this and steaming hot porridge.
Shrimp
Tempura (RM16). Good size prawns encased in rather thick chewy
batter.
Crab
Cakes (RM16). Generously stuffed crab shells – make sure you eat
it with the mint.
For
mains, we had Seafood Pad Thai (RM20) – a lovely rendition with
generous ingredients and balanced flavours. This was our favourite,
along with the Seafood Porridge (RM20) – a steaming bowl of soft
rice grains soaked in a hearty broth and chunks of fish slices and
prawns.
Chiang
Mai curry noodles (RM20) – Known as Khao Soi, this is an extremely
creamy version, with egg noodles and a chicken drumstick. Full
flavoured, but the richness gets to you towards the end.
Radna
Beef Noodles (RM20) was a very tamed affair, with silky smooth but
very thick rice noodles and slightly chewy beef.
Basil
Chicken Rice (RM20) – again a toned down version paired with a
comforting sunny side up.
For
drinks, we tried their non alcoholic Zero Mojito and Apricot Fizz
Overall,
if you are looking for a comfortable place to just unwind post work
with some night bites, this would be a great choice. Whilst the food
quality was up to par, the taste was undeniably very safe.
Admittedly, I was looking for sharper flavours; the explosion of
sweet, salty and sour – the hallmarks of good thai food. I can't
wait for them to launch their full dinner menu. This would then be a
great place to bring guests and impress the socks off them.
Recommended
dishes: Seafood Porridge, Pad Thai.
Stay away from: Seafood Green Curry Burger
Barn
Thai | Address: Ground Floor, Plaza 33, Jalan Kemajuan, Petaling
Jaya. | Tel: 03-7932.2233 | Opening hours: Daily 5pm – 1.30am | GPS
: 3.109636, 101.638.201
This article was first featured on Hungrygowhere Malaysia HERE
Update: I just received a message from Barn Thai yesterday that they have just started offering a full dinner menu from 530pm till 10pm daily except Sundays.
Hi Esther,
ReplyDeleteNoticed you have visited us prior, love the honest review and we at Barn Thai Restaurant & Bar would like to invite you back to try our new menu either for lunch or dinner. We are open 7 days a week with live bands performing at the bar from Thursdays to Saturdays. Do feel free to contact me at 012 22 83 493 for any inquiries and if you are interested in visiting us I’ll arrange a table in your name.
Many thanks!
Cheers.
Gary Liew
gary.dsp@gmail.com