Prior to this visit, I have only dined in Erawan once but it left a lasting impression - from the food down to the restaurant decor. This time, I brought Hubby along to change his perception of Thai food. You see, Hubby's previous Thai food experience (elsewhere) has not been very good and he always associates Thai food with being super spicy til his gut hurts. LOL. Suffice to say, after visiting Erawan, he's much more open towards this cuisine and perhaps someday he will learn to love it too :)
This year, Erawan secured the number 3 spot in The Miele Guide's Best Malaysian Restaurants, coming in after Cilantro and El Cerdo. Very well-deserved.
As always, the restaurant is immaculately decorated with fresh orchids (love the scent) and this time, we even got to speak to Chef Korn, the man behind the kitchen, who is very talented and passionate about cooking. We could tell that he's not one of those chefs who guards their cooking recipes, in fact he was more than happy to share a few of his cooking tips with us.
Their signature lychee drink
I have always wondered what it means by "classic Thai fusion" here at Erawan. Turns out Chef Korn likes using a lot of Western ingredients such as Australian beef and lamb as well as cod fish but still retaining the traditional Thai flavours. If you've visited the restaurant, you will notice that the food presentation here is really beautiful as well, making it a real feast for the eyes.
We started off with the roast duck breast salad (RM58), with a special North Eastern salad dressing. The duck bre! ast has been imported from Thailand, grilled until the skin is crispy (also to remove excess fats) and then mixed with herbs, dried chilli, crispy garlic and lime as well ground roasted rice. The duck meat was very juicy and tasted very refreshing owing to the tangy dressing.
We were impressed with the grilled river prawn, served with sadao and tamarind sauce. Firstly, the river prawns were HUGE... it's simply grilled retaining its natural sweetness. The sadao flower (which is really pretty) is a special winter flower which is a good antioxidant. It has a slight bitter taste (sort of like petai but without the stink), but when paired with the sweet tamarind sauce and topped on top of the sweet prawn, it all goes well together. I really enjoyed this!
The crispy river prawn with a Thai basil sauce also features plump, juicy prawns deep fried in a light tempura-like batter. This and the previous dish are not on their a la carte menu yet, but I think you can request for them. Erawan actually specialises in c! ustom-ma de menus, so if you tell them your budget and dietary requirements, Chef Korn can prepare some special dishes (off-menu) for you - with advance notice of course.
The chicken and spices curry (RM48) is a mild traditional Thai curry which will get you asking for more rice to soak up all that lovely gravy. It is made out of various spices such as mace, nutmeg, coriander seed, caraway, cardamom seed, clove and cinnamon which is mixed with red curry paste and then simmered with the chicken thigh. It is quite similar to the chicken massaman according to Chef Korn. Sweet green chillies which can only be found in Cameron Highlands is added, be careful not to eat the seeds as it can be quite fiery. I also learnt something new and interesting, peanuts are added to the curry to tone down the taste.
Ah ice-cream to soothe my tongue (I bit a chilli seed by accident), homemade delights by Chef Korn with flavours such as lemongrass, black rose, lavender, super berry, coconut, durian, and chilli. We settled for coconut (which is quite labour intensive from what I heard) and lavender. The coconut flavour was really nice since Chef Korn scrapes the flesh off from young coconuts. The lavender flavour is lightly perfumed from the lavender.
Coconut ice cream with freshly roasted nuts
Lavender ice cream
The awards that Erawan have won
No.3 in Malaysia!
Btw if you're thinking of visiting Erawan, you're best to go in March as they will be closing between 7 Feb to 8 March 2012 for a minor renovation to give the place a fresh look. We will definitely be going back then to check out the new look as well as any new menu that Chef Korn comes up with :) Please remember that you need to pre-order a day in advance as most of the dishes require a lot of preparation (see their full menu here). Chef Korn will also be holding private cooking classes after the renovation.
*Thanks to! Korn an d Anan for the kind invite to dine in your restaurant.
Pork free.
Opening times: Fri - Sun 12-3pm; Tue - Sun 6pm -10.30pm. Closed on Mondays.
Service: Excellent.
Price: Prices are slightly expensive, but the quality and taste of the food here totally justifies it.
Location: Erawan Classic Thai & Fusion Restaurant, No. 22-1, Jalan PJU 5/16, Dataran Sunway, Kota Damansara, 47810 Petaling Jaya, Selangor.
Tel: 03-6141 2393
E-mail: siamdb@msn.com
Website: http://www.erawan-classicthai.com/
GPS Coordinates: 3.152857, 101.591971
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