Thai Express

Marine Arcade No. 5, (Next to Anjarwallas Bakery)
Block 3, Clifton
Karachi, Pakistan.
Tel: (92-21) 3586-2713, 3586-2714

Cuisine: Thai

Ratings (Out of 10):

Ambiance: 7
Food: 5
Service: 7
Value for Money: 6
Overall: 6.5

Cost: Rs. 2400/- for 4 people: 2 Soups, 2 Appetizers (in addition to 1 Complementary Salad), 3 Main Courses and 4 Drinks (2 Special, 2 Regular)

Review:

The restaurant is conveniently located near Bilawal Chowrangi with a plenty of parking available. The outside of the restaurant is simple, clean and a tasteful. The interior is done in similar style. The wood furniture and minimal thai style decorative pieces add a warm touch to the place. The seems to have been designed with the 'Express' them in mind. A great setting for a quick business lunch. Improvement could have been done in the music department.

The restaurant was not crowded, rather bordering on empty. It was a weeknight, but I don't think thats any excuse.

The menu wasn't too complicated. Two kinds of soups plus more noodle soups, about half a dozen choices in each of chicken, beef, fish, prawn and noodles. Just about right for an express restaurant.

Our appetizers were Chicken Satay and Prawn on Toast. The Chicken Satay was lacking in marination and flavor and the peanut sauce seemed a bit too thick. The Prawn on Toast was one of the best I've had. Not too thick with a generous topping of prawn and sesame. Portions were rather small, the four of us got one piece each. We got a papaya salad on the house, but it was really lacking in that zing which I've had in other papaya salads.

We didn't try the clear soup but the Tom Kha with the Chicken and the Prawn didn't disappoint. I don't know whether it was our luck, but the prawns were of good size in general.

The main course was Crispy Beef with Tamarind Sauce, Green Curry Chicken and Prawn with Basil, Baby Corn, Lime Leaves and Mushrooms. The crispy beef could have been crispier. The tamarind in the dish didn't come out very strong, depending on your taste that can be a good or a bad thing. But for one thing, that caused it to lose a certain distinctiveness. The green curry chicken was standard, no more no less. The stir-fry prawn turned out to be more curryish than stir fry, plenty of sauce to go with the plain rice (which I might add was done perfect, came hot and fluffy as soon as we wanted it). I suppose that stretches the quantity of the dish.

The usual choice in desserts and drinks. Didn't try the desserts. The choices weren't anything exotic but they were quite tempting. The drinks were the usual cold and hot drinks, grape juice in the seasonal juice category (we tried it and it was pretty good) and a lonely Pinacolada which could have used the company of some other minty or lemony drinks.

Service didn't let us down at any time. I would like to see how they manage when there's a crowd though.

Overall, it was a pleasant place to dine out. Food was hit and miss. Pricing, not too cheap but certainly not in the most expensive category either. I would expect the prices to be a bit lower for an express restaurant (around the Rs 495 that you're paying for the lunch deal). But definitely a positive addition to the restaurant scene in Karachi.

My recommendations to the restaurant are:
- Introduce quantity variations for lunch/dinner; you generally have larger groups coming in for dinner sharing dishes. Regular/Large for appetizers and Single Bowl/Family Bowl for Soups is a good option to have for dinner.
- Satay and papaya salads need work.
- Kids menu, we didn't have any kids with us but if we're bringing them to a thai restaurant they should try the thai food, get a taste for it. You do realize that kids often have a huge say on where the family eats right?
- Experiment with some new drink options that compliment the food.

I hope they evolve into a better restaurant. I would encourage you to visit and give your feedback to improve the place.

Reviewer: Huzefa Lotia (hzl@khaopiyo.com)

Pizza Hut - 3 New Desi Treats

Hi everyone,

Just posting to announce the launch of 3 new deals at Pizza Hut. 3 very desi sounding flavors; Chatkila Chaat, Chicken Achari and Chicken and Veg Delight (last one not too desi sounding). Haven't tried them out yet. Post your comments to let me know your thoughts!

Well guys, 111-241-241 is the number for Pizza Hut home delivery.

New Hennys Locations

New Hennys Branches Opened:

II Chundrigar Rd (Behind Muhammadi House): 3207-1796

Park Towers: 3425-3954

FTC: 3563-1075

Click on the title for menu and other details.