What to Order in a Thai Restaurant

Cisan's at Nepo Quad, Angeles City is one of my favorite Thai restaurant. And seriously it become a sort of my benchmark every time I try Thai food from other local restaurants. Well, you really can't blame me. I simply love the food they serve. Plus, I appreciate comfy place and their quality service. I previously posted my dining experience at Cisan's here: Enjoying Thai Dinner at Cisan's, Angeles City

Thai cuisine is a blend of various flavors. The dishes often have strong and very flavorful taste. It is known for its balance of three to four fundamental taste senses in each dish or the overall meal: sour, sweet, salty, and bitter.

Here are some of my top Thai dishes favorites, which I suggest you order when you are in a Thai restaurant:

Thai Bagoong Rice (Khao Kluk Kapi) 

The bagoong rice that we know is of Thai origin. Its ingredients include Jasmine rice (or other variety of white rice), Thai bagoong, pork, shrimp, egg strips, and green mango strips.  I love how the different flavors blend together -- the sweet, sour and salty flavors seems to combine perfectly to give you a perfect dish. You may no longer need a viand to go along with the Thai bagoong rice (Khao kluk kapi) because you can eat it on its own.

Tom Yum Goong or Tom Yam Kung

Want some hot stuff? This hot, spicy, and creamy goodness could be the answer. Tom yum goong or tom yam kung is popular hot and sour Thai soup. It uses prawns as the main ingredients. It has lemon grass, kaffir leaves, ginger, cilantro and fish sauce.

The first time I tried tom yum was during a trip to Thailand several years ago. I instantly love the dish. I love the creaminess because of the coconut milk and everything else that's added to it.

Thai Shrimp Curry

The Thai shrimp curry is an ultimate hit. If you are a big fan of curries, this is a must-try. You will simply love the combination of shrimp, mushrooms and the creaminess of the coconut milk.

Thai Green Chicken Curry

If you want a more hotter curry, I suggest you have the Thai green chicken curry. It is green in color because of the basil and the fresh green chillies on it. It is as tasty as the red curries but it is a lot hotter. If you want that creamy curry taste with a lot of kick, then this is for you.

Papaya salad or som tam

Thai papaya salad or som tam is not the same as the Philippine achara or pickled green papaya. Som tam is a  delicious concoction of sweet, sour, and salty salad. It has shredded green papayas, diced tomatoes, basil, nuts, baby shrimp, lemon, and fish sauce (nam pla).

Pad Thai or Phat Thai

What makes this rice noodles delicious than other Asian noodles is the blend of different flavors that is quite familiar in almost all of the Thai dishes. The different textures you get in every bite with the tenderness of the noodles and the shrimp and the crunchiness of the bean sprouts and nuts are all good.

All of these are on top of my list.  Feel free to share yours.