We, meaning Laura, Jeannie and I; were at Empire Gallery Shopping Centre (1) again, after having picked Laura up from work. I did not pick Jeannie up as she was getting a ride from her colleague, S. K. Chan (S. K.) to Empire. Notice that I don’t or rarely use the word “fetch” as opposed to “pick them up”. ‘Fetch’ sounds like bringing an inanimate entity.

Jeannie and S. K. had plans to do some shopping for clothes. But first, dinner. This time round, these two work colleagues decided on where to eat before they went shopping since they arrived at the mall slightly earlier than Laura and I did.

Laura went to do her own thing – the gym. She usually grabbed dinner after her workout. I went to find Jeannie and S. K.

Jeannie and S. K. decided on Thai food. They went ahead to the restaurant and ordered their food, and eat quickly so as to maximize as much time as possible on shopping.

I texted / messaged or the more familiar word: “Whatsapp-ed” Jeannie, to ask which floor the Thai restaurant was situated on. She replied “G” meaning to say it was on Ground Floor. However, I did not think it was on Ground Floor as that floor usually hosts all the branded stores, those brands willing to pay high rentals for the best customer viewing / shopping / spending experience. There were restaurants like The Social, Jibby’s, Starbucks and Jardin that were on Ground Floor and were situated at the front of the building with their own entry / exit doors as they remained opened after the Mall closes for the day. 

I walked the length of the first floor just to be sure as maybe, this was a new restaurant willing to pay that sort of rental. Could not find it. I texted / messaged or the more familiar word: “Whatsapp-ed” (I repeated this part of the sentence again, similar to the one, 1 paragraph earlier as I think it quite comical. Most people here in Malaysia, only understand “Whatsapp”) Jeannie again, “The restaurant is not on this floor”. At the same time I went one floor down where the “commoner” restaurants are.

At first, I did not notice it, amidst all the little stores in the centre aisle. I doubled back towards O’Brien’s and then, saw it. Maybe I missed it because it seemed rather quiet. Then, their customers started coming in as the time moved closer to 8.00pm. According to S. K.; this restaurant serves simple, yet delicious authentic, Thai food.

“‘Street’ ThaiFood”, the name of the restaurant, is a mid-sized restaurant, situated towards the entrance of the mall. Their service is fast, evident with the fact that S. K. and Jeannie were more than half way through their meal. Or, were they gobbling up their dinner just to get onto the shopping trail? I wonder.

I went for their “Tom Yam laksa with chicken”. I expected it to be very spicy . Anything relating with the term “tom yam” has to be spicy. I ordered an iced coffee to go with it.

My “Tom Yam laksa with chicken” order arrived in no time at all. It looked good. However, it was lacking the fiesty heat like as though it was mild and toned down.

A lady came over to our table and asked me how my food was. I said it was not as spicy as I was expecting it to be. She asked me to wait a bit and went off somewhere. Moments later, she came back with a little glass container, containing what looked like burnt chili in thick black soy sauce, saying she made this especially for me.

This lady, whose name is Tara; is the owner of the restaurant. The very thing that caught my attention about her was I thought she used to work in a Thai nail parlour before this. When she spoke, I was quite sure that this was the same lady.

I was not forewarned how potent this chili was. I put two small spoon heap full of this stuff in my Tom yam laksa. Took a bite. the next thing was I was perspiring profusely. I even had to take off my specs. I think smoke was coming out through my ears. Great stuff, but dangerous!

After my meal, Tara gave me the recipe to “PikPhao” the very spicy chili:
Dried Chili -> Fry it. Then pound it. Then, you fry it again. There must be a couple of missing ingredients to protect this trade secret.😁😂

Tara was very nice. It definitely was a pleasant experience, dining at the ‘Street’ Thaifood restaurant. The food was great. Reasonably priced, too. Besides Tara, I especially liked the quick services. Anytime you want tasty food but is short on time, this is the restaurant to come to. Their fast service helps. And if I want to sweat it out without a strenuous workout, I will be back for more PikPhao. Khob khun.

NOTES:
1. Empire Gallery Shopping Centre is in Subang Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia.