Buddy Li-Hsian suggested that I try Thai Hou Sek - a Thai style restaurant - at 1Utama near Kuala Lumpur. The food options at 1Utama, the sixth largest shopping mall in the world, is simply overwhelming. We can spend weeks exploring the food in the sprawling mall, but we shall start with Thai Hou Sek thanks to Li-Hsian 😃
Thai Hou Sek is a new start up - not even 6 months old yet. But, it has already got a growing following for their delicious Thai food. Thai Hou Sek or 泰好食 means "delicious Thai food". It's also a clever Cantonese word play which means "too delicious".
Thai Hou Sek's interior is simply but comfortably furnished. The jazzy decor has Thai nuances featuring glowing neon signs, chandeliers and a mural of Thai King Bhumibol.
If you like street side dining, you could sit "outside" like in Bangkok and eat while watching the constant stream of shoppers walking by. Only things missing are the tuk tuk, stifling heat and road dust 😜
Thai Hou Sek restaurant manager Reader Wong shared that the kitchen is manned by a platoon of Thai cooks with the Head Chef from Hatyai. The Thai food here are mostly from the Central (Bangkok) and Southern Thai regions.
We started with the signature Thai Hou Sek Share Platter - price RM28+. In the platter, there were pandan leaf chicken, miang kham and Thai fish cakes.
The pandan leaf wrapped fried chicken was tender and juicy. It's flavour is mildly savoury and lightly perfumed with the aroma of pandan leaves.
I enjoyed this traditional miang kham where roasted coconut shavings, chopped shallots, slivers of red chili, toasted peanuts, pork lard crackling, fried curry leaves and plum sauce are folded into a palm size raw fresh green leaf.
Seafood Tom Yam - price RM24+.
The seafood tomyam had large prawns, squid rings, mussels, and fish meat boiled in pork bone stock spiced with chili, lemon grass, lime leaves etc to give the traditional Thai soup that signature spicy kick. The savoury spicy flavour is robust but not over the top, so most people will be able to enjoy it.
Super Pork & Pumpkin Green Curry - price RM22+
Thai Hou Sek's green curry is sweet spicy, leaning on the sweet side from the coconut milk and pumpkin. The curry has a thick, paste like smooth texture and in it, there are lots of naturally sweet tasting lean pork slices and yellow cubes of mushy pumpkin. It also has my favourite crunchy green curry berries 😋
BKK Braised Pork - price RM16+
Thai Hou Sek's BKK braised pork is a big winner for me.
okkk... I know such fatty pork is not everyone's cup of tea, but this was so brilliantly done. The tender lean meat was good with natural porky sweetness but the fat was even sweeter. Then, it was the fat's texture that bowled me over - it has a juicy crunch almost like a slice of juicy sweet Chinese pear 香梨. Really.
The savoury brown braising stock is served separately but I prefer to eat the braised pork neat 😃
If you love porky fat, this is a Must Try 😋
BB-Q Pork Neck - price RM18+.
The fatty and lean strips of pork collar have a good spring to the bite with a slight browned crisp outside and inside it is tenderly juicy. The collar strips have slight savoury sweet marination with naturally porky sweetness from the meat and fat.
Pineapple & Bacon Fried Rice - price RM20+
A good rendition of the Thai icon - Thai Hou Sek's version has extra pork and diced pineapple, topped with shelled prawns and a crispy strip of fried bacon. The flavour leans on natural layers of sweetness with slight spice nuances.
The must have Thai signature drinks - Thai milk tea, sweet ginger lemongrass, and refreshing apple plum mint mocktail.
4-Star (out of 5). Granted my lack of exposure to Thai food, I enjoyed the dishes here at Thai Hou Sek 泰好食 more than those that I have eaten so far at Bangkok's Pratunam tourist belt. If you are a Thai food fan in KL, it is definitely worthwhile checking out Thai Hou Sek. I love their competitive pricing too.
Restaurant name: Thai Hou Sek 泰好食
Address: S132, 2nd Floor, 1 Utama Shopping Centre, Bandar Utama, Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia
GPS: 3°08'58.8"N 101°36'58.4"E | 3.149652, 101.616233
Tel: +603 7731 7933
Hours: 11:00am to 10:00pm
Non Halal
Date visited: 30 Dec 2016
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