PROFILED BY DE GROOTS MEDIAAmid the colourful pagodas of Chinatown is a little shrine to the wondrous cuisine of Thailand and its smaller neighbour, Laos. Expect nothing but the full force of Thai cooking’s hot, pungent, sweet and sour flavours and you won’t be disappointed. The decor is Bangkok-side-street for the most part, with a few splashes of colour and art. In particular check out the floral painting on the back wall – believe it or not, it’s the work of a talented elephant named Wanpen from Mae Sa Elephant Camp in Thailand.
Almost all the Thai food groups are represented. Salads, such as yam goon chieng (fried pork sausage with spicy sauce) and larb (mint leaf salad with, yes, spicy sauce – try it with sliced duck meat); curries (try the red curry for something with bite, or the massaman for something sweet and mild); soup (go for the tom kha, a coconut milk soup laced with tangy lemongrass and galangal) and noodles (sample the Thai version of sukiyaki with a choice of seafood or meat). Just as you’d find in many a food stall in Laos or rural Thailand, offal features quite heavily on the menu; if ox tripe and liver tom yam, or spicy salad with fish maw appeals, Thai Wi-Rat more than delivers. Not to be missed by anyone with an adventurous appetite!