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2013-06-07
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Get other food reviews at http://thehungrybunnie.blogspot.comI'd heard good stuff about Bangkok Jam, and thought I'd get reasonably decent stuff. Like Thai Express, which serves similar stuff at the same price points, I'd expected simple Thai fare, no-fuss and homestyled. I thought it was a good sign that it was a full-house on a Friday night, with a seemingly never-ending queue outside. But that turned out to be a fake-out. The food was lackluster, with very few barely passable dishes, and the
I'd heard good stuff about Bangkok Jam, and thought I'd get reasonably decent stuff. Like Thai Express, which serves similar stuff at the same price points, I'd expected simple Thai fare, no-fuss and homestyled. I thought it was a good sign that it was a full-house on a Friday night, with a seemingly never-ending queue outside. But that turned out to be a fake-out. The food was lackluster, with very few barely passable dishes, and the price tag not commiserate with the quality and value. Maybe we ordered the wrong dishes. Maybe the chef was having a very off day, but it was one of the most unforgettable meals I've ever had. Because it was just so bad.
Service that night was also frantic and frazzled. The staff were clearly stressed to their limits and unable to handle the full-house. They were nice enough, once they stopped zipping around to take orders, but their ragged harried mannerisms made it obvious that they were so understaffed. In comparison with Thai Express, which serves similar stuff, my take is that you're much better off at Thai Express instead.
We had:
1) Por Pia Tod ($7.90) deep fried spring rolls with Vietnamese dip were unimpressive and generic, like those frozen ones that you get from the supermarket. The spring roll skin was too thick and the fillings too stingy.
2) Khao Tang Na Tang ($7.50) rice cracker crisps with mild chicken pate. One look at the dip and I wasn't impressed. It looked dull and insipid, like it'd been sitting out for waaaay too long. True enough, it tasted just as bad, if not worse. It had a sour rancid taste, and smell, and I spit it out and had to rinse my mouth out after a mouthful. Not very ladylike, I know, but it was just awful. This alone would have made the entire dining experience horrible. The rice crisps were hard enough to chip a tooth, it had been re-fried to a solid rock-hard finish.
3) Goong Pun Tak Rai ($9.90): lemongrass prawn cake skewers was the only passable dish. The prawn cakes were juicy and fresh, not the best around but it was alright. I liked the unusual addition of sweet corn nibblets.
4) Kai Jiow Poo ($10.50), fried omelette with crab meat, while flavoursome, was a wee bit too salty. That said, if paired with plain white rice, this would have been half-way decent
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