Let's Thai it...Mission 19: Monsoon

We stepped up at this stage to the luxurious Thai restaurants.  

Location: Adliya

Group: Nazli, Sireen, Eman

Rating: 8.5/10

Date: 19-2-2012

Although it's a Thai restaurant, many other Asian dishes are included in the menu. From past experience, we tried Vietnamese, Malaysian and Japanese dishes. But this time it was strictly Thai. Luckily, each dish in the menu had the country of its origin next to it. 

We started with Khong Wang Ruam. Mixed appetizer platter: Spring Rolls, Shrimp Toast, Fried Wanton (of course you don't find those titles unless you read the description. All dishes are titled in Thai) and we replaced a non-Thai appetizer with two pieces of wrapped chicken.

The Shrimp Toast is known to be perfectly done in Monsoon. The best among all. But the Spring Roll wasn't really tasty. Something was missing in it. Dumplings were not as good as before and the chicken was tender and nice.

Beef Salad. Excellent and perfect. Usually we're not able to eat it because of the high level of spice, but this time it was just like we wanted it to be. 

Sea Food Tom Yum Soup. The soup itself was very good but the sea food wasn't. Little variety and didn't taste so fresh. Spice wise it was perfect.

Nua Pad Prik Sod (fried beef). It was good but not better than their Beef with Oyster Sauce. Loved the amount of sauce. Vegetable fried rice was regular.

Pad Thai Noodles. A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. The best we had. Recommended dish of the night.

Pad Prik Tarkai (friend chicken with lemon grass). I didn't like it at all. But the girls thought it was fine. Again the amount of sauce was juicy enough.

Kung Pad Prik Kuar (Frid jumbo prawns). That was really good. Fresh chili & spring onion added a lot to the perfectly cooked prawns.

Jasmine Tea

Aaaaand dessert. Kloey Tod, deep fried bananas with vanilla ice cream. One of the best we had but not the best.

True that Monsoon is the most visited Thai restaurant in Bahrain. And it is one of the top best dining restaurants here. But maybe after trying all those Thai restaurants i now look at it differently. The food is very modernized. You get to feel the Thai touch but not a 100% Thai taste. The ingredients were put together in a way that satisfies all tastes and all nationalities. Thai cuisine is usually light but after this dinner i was feeling heavy and uncomfortable. Didn't get a good night sleep. Atmosphere and location are what keep the rating high. 

Recommended. 

Let's Thai it..Mission 18: Pad Thai

This mission was different in a bad way. Lowest rating in our Thai mission. 

Location: Yum Yum Tree (Janabia)

Group: Nazli, Sireen, Reem, Eman, Noor

Rating: 1/10

Date: 12-2-2012

The place was nice as it was located in Yum Yum Tree which is a mini food court. But out of all the restaurants there i think that this Thai place was the worst. The items in the menu were very limited so we ordered one of each with some changes on sauces. All dishes tasted the same!! They all had no taste at all. I really think that they should close this place down. 

The food after we were done, untouched.

Luckily we had other options around. We ordered grills from Manqal to satisfy our tummies.

NOT RECOMMENDED. 

Let's Thai it..Mission 17: Thai Chai

Thai in a mall. One of a kind in Bahrain. We tried their Chinese dishes before and loved them. This time it was all Thai. 

Location: City Center 

Group: Nazli, Sireen, Reem, Eman.

Rating: 6/10

Date: 30-1-2012

 Something to start with on the house.. Very oily & not crispy. We couldn't eat it. 

Menu was very clear and organized. Thai food was separated from Chinese food which made it much easier for us.

Chicken Satay. Had one bite only. Didn't like it at all.

Shrimp Toast. That was good. The top part was delicious & soft and the bottom part was crispy.

Prawn Tempura. That was nice. But like Reem said, it tasted frozen and not fresh. 

Tom Yum Soup. Didn't like it. Too zesty and it didn't feel like Tom Yum. But Sireen loved it. She always loves what we don't like and vice versa.

Beef with Oyster Sauce. Delicious 

Beef Salad. Average 

Chicken Kale. Dry. Needed more sauce. 

Pad Thai Noodles. Good but not wow. Much better than many Pad Thai we tried. 

This was unique and yummy: Grilled Prawns with Minced Chicken. It doesn't look as good as it tastes but it was something new.

Fried Bananas for dessert. A must try. 

Total price was BD46.200 which was a bit higher than the usual small Thai restaurants. It was a nice experience to be in a mall (the only mall in our mission). The service was excellent. Friendly staff. Nice atmosphere. As for the food it wasn't as good as their Chinese Menu. But the way the Chinese and Thai food was separated in the menu added a lot to the rating. 

Recommended.