Sep 07 2016.
views 1701Nara Thai - a restaurant that has continued to maintain its position as one of Thailand's best since 2006 - recently expanded their franchise to Sri Lanka, promising to serve authentic Thai cuisine to discerning diners. We recently dropped in to their location in Deal Place to see what the hype was about. Here's the scoop.
The ambience is classy, upscale and tasteful and incorporates elements of Thai decor that tie in the look beautifully. Seating is spacious and there are three dining areas that consist of two indoor areas and one outdoor area.
(Ambience: 4.5/5)
The menu at Nara Thai is quite extensive and does include vegetarian options as well. We started off with the refreshing Anchan Herb Juice (Rs. 390), which is essentially made of Butterfly Pea flowers. This indigo blue drink is presented with a little shot glass of lime which you could add to the drink if you so desired. This added an interesting element to the otherwise sweet drink. It was quite fascinating to see that the lime also caused the drink to change in colour, and take on a more purplish hue. Flavour wise the drink isn't overwhelming, but is very subtle. Nevertheless, we quite liked it.
Based on recommendations we picked starters Hors d’oeuvre Nara (Rs. 1390) and Gai Hor Bai Toei (Rs. 890) which was a selection of appetizers and chicken wrapped in pandan leaves respectively. The appetizer platter comprised fish cakes, prawn salad, spring rolls, chicken satay and deep fried papaya accompanied by 4 different sauces. The succulent satay was bursting with flavour as was the fish cake and the seafood salad; the latter being on the spicy side with a tinge of sweetness, the lime adding the zing factor. The deep fried papaya was perfectly crisp and you probably wouldn't know you were consuming papaya unless you were told. But it tasted great. The spring rolls included no filling but added the extra crunchy quotient to the platter.
The chicken wrapped in pandan leaves was also a treat. The meat was flavoured and fried to perfection and the chicken was juicy and tender thanks to the pandan leaf which traps the juices of the chicken inside.
After the abundance of appetizers we moved on to the mains. We decided to go with Kao Suay (Rs. 190) which was a single portion of jasmine rice. On recommendation we picked Kalum Pree Tord Nam Pla (Rs. 590) which was stir fried cabbage with fish sauce, Kung Phad Pong Karee (Rs. 1390) stir fried prawns with yellow curry and Phu Tord Kratiem (Rs. 4990) stir fried crab with garlic to go with the jasmine rice. The crisp cabbage added the element of texture to the meal with the prawn and crab adding the flavour, which was quite phenomenal.
To wrap it all up we picked the Kao Niew Mamuang (Rs. 590) which was mango with sticky rice. The Karthakolomban mango paired with glutinous sticky rice flavoured with coconut milk was, without a doubt, a marriage made in heaven, and you would be tempted to go for seconds.
(Food: 5/5)
Despite being in operation for only a few days service was good and the staff seem to all have gotten into the groove. They were all friendly and courteous, and were willing to answer any questions patiently. We were also informed of wait times for items such as crab and this helped avoid any unpleasant waiting and expectations.
(Service: 4.5/5)
Nara Thai ticks all the right boxes in terms of ambience, exceptional food and service. Although a little on the pricey side, the food is worth every penny, which is why we gave it a whole 5 stars. Kudos to the 3 Thai chefs for cooking up amazing, mouthwatering Thai cuisine modified to suit the local palate. The place gets full pretty fast, so they recommend making a reservation to avoid any disappointment.
Nara Thai is open from 12PM to 12AM everyday and is located at 3, Deal Place, Colombo 03. Call them up on (011) 2 577655 to make a reservation.
Photographs by Kushan Pathiraja
1 Comments
Sonali says:
Sep 11, 2016 at 12:31 pmNot trying to insult Nara. But this is the most boring Thai cuisine I have ever seen.