Thai food is always a welcome option when it comes to dining in Colombo. Recently, The Boulevard located down Queens Road, Colombo 03 reopened as Thai Cuisine Boulevard with none other than famed Thai Chef ‘Mama’ heading kitchen operations to ensure a tasty and authentic Thai dining experience.

The Food Factor headed over to Thai Cuisine Boulevard for a tasting session, and revelled in the flavours and authenticity of the food served. To start things off, we were served a chilled glass of tamarind juice. Tamarind itself is very strong in flavour and it’s not for everyone but surprisingly, this juice was quite nice, not overly strong in flavour and rather refreshing on a hot day. Next, Tom Yum with prawn and mushroom! Who can say no to a big, steaming bowl of this flavourful soup – a Thai favourite! I found the soup incredibly spicy but not to the point where you’re tearing up. The flavours were well balanced and you can taste everything from the kaffir lime leaves to the coriander, chillie, and soft textures of the fresh prawn and mushroom, which is great and commendable from a restaurant barely two weeks old!

No Thai meal is complete without a green curry chicken, raw papaya salad, alongside fluffy and steaming hot jasmine basmati rice – best for bringing out the flavours of each dish. I found the green curry chicken (Gaeng Kiew Warn – Gai) to be just right with its soft cubes of well cooked chicken bathed in mildly thick green gravy dripping with the earthy flavour of basil, the distinguishable citrus flavour of lemongrass, coriander, kaffir lime leaves and ginger. Fiery sweet best describes the prawn cooked with chillie and lemongrass (Choo Chee Goong). Cooked in a spicy chillie paste, I found the prawns sweet but still chillie hot, and excellent when paired with the warm steamed rice (Kaow Suey). Overall a great combination of flavours.

The raw papaya salad (Som Tam) is great, even on its own. Strips of raw mango tossed around with roasted peanuts, chopped shallots, chopped green chillies, coriander leaves, and lime juice to give it that citrus-y punch, and leaving a trail of chillie sting on your lips. The Phad Thai with prawn (Phad Thai Goong) comes highly recommended and with good reason. The perfectly cooked rice noodles combined with the sweetness of the tamarind sauce and tossed around with fried egg, shallots, spring onions, bean sprouts and prawn is definitely a must try.

Desserts are something else at Thai Cuisine Boulevard. Of the three I sampled, I’d say that the Sticky Rice with Mango was my favourite. Sweet, creamy and thick – the rice cooked with coconut cream, and paired with slices of fresh mango, this is definitely a dessert you have to try. The Jasmine Jelly with King Coconut Kernel, and drizzled with a sweet coconut cream, too is quite nice, and sweet. The jelly tastes a lot like agar agar, because of similar textures. Another dessert which comes recommended is the Sago Pudding with Coconut Cream. The pudding incorporates the sweet coconut cream and a pandan mixture which works well when combined with the warm sweetness of the sago.

Thai Cuisine Boulevard, run by Tasty’s of Tasty Caterers, Café on the 5th, La Rambla and Crossroads, offers indoor and outdoor seating for up to 100 guests at a time, just perfect for large gatherings and events. The restaurant also offers two private dining areas for guests who would like to host small, private gatherings.

Thai Cuisine Boulevard is located at 33, Queens Road, Colombo 03, and is open everyday from 11am-11pm.

By Sarah Kellapatha
Photographs courtesy Dihan de Silva/Thai Cuisine Boulevard